


To Face the Old Songs

by Gears112 (orphan_account), phantomthief_fee



Series: Reunion AU [8]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Dad Henry, Dad Tom Thomas and Bertie, F/M, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Secrets, Gen, Inky Boys, Internalized Homophobia, Magic Studio, Multi, Period Typical Attitudes, Period-Typical Homophobia, Reconciliation, Romantic Friendship, Susie and Sammy have that weird convo with the folks, Team as Family, potentially
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-07-08 05:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 21,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19864534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Gears112, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthief_fee/pseuds/phantomthief_fee
Summary: New members of the Studio Family are getting used to the ups and downs of being outside of the studio, but with new problems arising, bonds are tested, secrets are unveiled, and some very tough choices have to be made.





	1. Chapter 1

...

“It’s a frog!!” 

“It’s so slimy!”

“You’re so brave Ruby!!”

“Miss Allison! Look! I caught him!” Allison Angel looked over at the small creature in the girl’s hand as she, Mary, Bendy, and Squish were in the park. It had been several days since the wedding and Allison Angel had been roped into watching them play in the park, along with Tom and Shawn while Betty somehow managed to strongarm Thomas into coming with her and Matthais for clothes shopping. Squish poked the creature gently before jumping up and down and starting to sign, pointing to itself. Allison smiled gently.

“He feels like you?” She asked and Squish nodded excitedly and she couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s certainly something…”

“Well, frogs like swimming in ponds all the time-Oh!” Mary exclaimed as the frog hopped out of Ruby’s hands and started to hop off. “I guess it didn’t want to stay around…”

“It probably has little ones to look after too,” Shawn joked as Squish scurried over to Tom and started telling him about the frog. Tom nodded gently and Mary looked at his arm.

“You’ve got stuff in your arm.” She pointed to the mechanical arm, which had some leaves and sticks in the wolf’s arm. “What happened?”

“A squirrel tried to take off with one of our snacks,” Shawn said, chuckling. “So we had to chase after the bugger and he went into a bush…” Ruby made a face.

“The squirrels tried to climb on Uncle Dave once!” Ruby said, nodding firmly. “Dave wasn’t happy with them either….”

“You’d figured they’d go for Mr. Anges or Joshy,” Bendy said. “Cause they’re pretty tall too…” The two girls nodded firmly and Squish just nodded because everyone else was doing it too, before Mary beamed spotting her uncle walking by. 

“Uncle Tim!!” The Campbell man chuckled as he came over.

“Heya guys, how are you doing?” He got choruses of ‘good’s from the children and he smiled. “Good to hear, I’m actually on my way to a meeting,”

“For what?”

“Well, I’ve actually got an interview with Mr. Cohen regarding a position,”

“Oh! Good Luck!”

“You’ll do awesome! You’re super smart!” Tim chuckled, flushing slightly at his niece’s remarks.

“Well, thanks kids…I hope Mr. Cohen agrees…”

“I’m sure he will! He’s a nice guy!” Bendy said. “He’s really cool actually! And Misses Wicker is cool too!” Ruby nodded firmly. Tim smiled before he spotted someone in the distance and made a face. “What’s up?”

“You guys better head back home or to the library; you know who is walking in the park,” Ruby and Mary’s face fell as Shawn made a face.

“That arse is back around?” Tim shrugged.

“He and his wife like to stroll through the park, it’s their thing…I just want you guys to be careful, ok?” Allison sighed softly and Ruby took her hand, smiling weakly, obviously trying to stay upbeat. 

“We’ll just go to the lib-”

“Oh! Mr. Campbell, what a pleasant surprise!” The elder woman said as she all but dragged her husband over to the group, Allison tensing as her father gave a cool glare to all involved, clearly not on board with this side track. “How have you and your family been doing?”

“We’re fine ma’am…” Tim said shortly and the woman nodded before seeing Allison.

“Oh! My, who is your friend Ruby?”

“Miss Allison ma’am…” Ruby said shortly, suddenly very self conscious of her messy dress and held tighter to Allison’s hand. The woman chuckled.

“Is that so? My eldest daughter was named Allison!” She patted her husband’s chest. “You were so protective of her and Helen when they were girls,” The woman looked at Tim. “Speaking of Helen, how is she, anyways?”

“Fine,”

“Did the wedding go well?” 

“He showed up.” Bendy tattled, pointing to Mr. Pendle, who glared daggers at the little demon before being smacked on the shoulder by his wife.

“I told you not to go for a walk in the park that day! And I told you that if you saw Helen to not bother her!” She scolded.

“She was marrying that hi-Ow!”

“What have I told you darling?” Mr. Pendle growled, though somehow looked sheepish.

“She can do much-”

“No, I distinctly told you that you cannot help the ones you love. If she wishes to marry a schoolteacher, then it’s her choice. Besides, at least he’s not some ruffian, letting people disrespect the bodies that God gave them or having children out of wedlock.” Allison looked at the little girl, who was obviously trying to hide the hurt on her face as the woman waved her hand absently. “Well, don’t let us interrupt you all, I just wanted to see how you were doing Mr. Campbell, ta ta~” She and her husband walked off and as soon as they were out of earshoot Mary spoke, crossing her arms.

“They’re jerks.” Ruby nodded softly.

“Yea…” Squish quickly scurried over to her and gave her a hug, the girl sniffling as she returned the hug.

“You know, let’s go see Mrs. Moon and see if we can get some ice cream!” Shawn said quickly. “I’m sure she’d be happy to see you guys again, and we can enjoy the cool air of the diner!” The children chuckled and Allison smiled as Tom nodded firmly before signing.

“Agreed. I could go for something sweet.”

“You can have ice cream?” Mary asked as they started to make their way to the diner. “I thought dogs couldn’t have sweets…”

“I am a wolf kiddo. Different thing.”

“Oooo, ok! You think Momma and Poppa would let me and Matty have a wolf?” Shawn snickered as Tim snorted, while Tom shrugged simply.

“You’ll have to ask ‘em.”

.

* * *

.

“Oh, hey guys,” Chris said as he saw everybody entering the diner, sans Tim as he headed to his interview. “I thought you were playing at the park.”

“We decided ice cream was better!” Bendy said firmly and Ruby nodded.

“Yeah...maybe we can just go to the library from now on…” Chris’s face fell in concern.

“Ruby-”

“We’ll worry about it later,” Shawn said quickly. “But for now, I believe we need to decide on ice cream!” Allison nodded.

“Right, that’s a good idea….um, Mary, Ruby...Squish, Tom, and I actually never had ice cream before...could you tell us what to expect?” The girls and Bendy gasped and as they went to a table, they explained the dessert as Shawn hung back, quickly explaining what happened to Chris. Once he explained what happened, Chris sighed and leaned against the counter.

“At least with Mr. Pendle, it’s just him being a racist ignorant coot...Mrs. Pendle, she legit thinks she’s offering helpful advice and concerns…” He said quietly. “Hell, even Mrs. Johnson has mellowed with her views on what’s best for the kids...and she understands that she’s sometimes off the mark!” Chris wiped his face and sighed. Shawn smiled softly and patted the younger man’s back.

“You’re doing a good job though Chris, she’s going to be a good woman when she grows up.” Chris smiled.

“Come on Shawn!” Bendy called, waving. “We’re gonna get ice cream now!!” Shawn chuckled and waved.

“Welp, I better go help with the ice cream.” He laughed and Chris smiled as he watched Shawn head to the group.

.

* * *

.

“Samuel you know better than to do that.” Sammy was beet red as his parents were staring at him, as well as Susie’s parents, having been invited to join the conversation with Nancy at the female Lawrence’s request when her brother and his ex-girlfriend wanted to speak with her and Augustus.

“I know.” He muttered.

“Susan…” Betty sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose, obviously disappointed in her daughter’s actions. 

“That’s probably the most normal thing I’ve heard in years.” Father Lawrence said after staying silent for most of the meeting. 

“Father…?” Sammy asked slowly, obviously surprised by that remark as the others looked at him.

“Am I pleased to hear that? Of course not.” He said. “But you both were and are adults, and at least you both are taking responsibility for your actions,” He shrugged absently. “And besides, people will say whatever they want about this. What matters is my children’s health and happiness.”

“Agreed.” James said simply, earning nods as Sammy and Susie exchanged glances and weak smiling before the man sighed. “ _However_...Susan, I do think we need to talk about what you did.” Susie gulped, paling slightly.

“In the studio?” 

“Susan. You know what he means.” Father Lawrence crossed his arms.

“But we can also discuss what you did in the _studio_ as that mockery of Alice as well.” Susie’s eyes widened as it finally clicked in regards to the search party and Father Lawrence in particular.

 _They knew what she did._


	2. Chapter 2

…

_“Good afternoon ladies!” Rebecca said sweetly as she welcomed the women of the church to her patio for their weekly meetings. “I hope you all are doing well,”_

_“Oh, I’m doing marvelous, Rebecca!” Mrs. Pendle said before chuckling as she took her spot. “I have some special news by the way~”_

_“You don’t say?” One of the other women asked they sat down._

_“Oh yes indeed! My little baby girl is getting married!”_

_“Oh! Well, congratulations!” Mrs. Pendle beamed._

_“Thank you darlings! I’m very happy for her, though you know how Harold is,” She laughed. “He barely let the first marriage happen after all and he was the one to introduce the two!” The group of women exchanged chuckles._

_“He is rather protective,” Mrs. Harpins said. “So who is the lucky fella?”_

_“The middle school teacher, Lewis Campbell,” Rebecca nodded simply as the other women in the group nodded._

_“Well, at least he’s a decent fellow...though he did have a bit of a moment the other day…” The women looked at Mrs. Harpins. “Didn’t you hear? He had a panic attack during school! I heard that even his mother had to come pick him up and his classes had to be subbed by the other teachers!”_

_“What caused it?” Mrs. Pendle asked. “I mean to be fair, there are some children there that could even send Father Lawrence up a wall.”_

_“I dunno, I heard that it involved that incident at the tattoo parlour,” The woman talking turned to Rebecca. “Somebody got attacked, right? I mean your daughter does own that building.”_

_“That is what I heard.” Rebecca said shortly. “But those involved asked for privacy while the investigation is going on. Anyways, we should start talking about that bake sale for the church that’s coming up.” The conversation changed to the topic and Rebecca mentally sighed in relief; she had known about what happened at the school when the news of the ‘incident’ happened there, considering she was helping with the lunch ladies that day, and was one of the first people to help Lewis calm down while Joshua and a few other teachers helped move the students around and give the teacher space; the man blaming himself for not preventing Susie from becoming the vile serpent she revealed herself to be. And of course, now with her disappearance, along with other members of Joey’s studio, Rebecca couldn’t help but feel a pit in her stomach that this wasn’t going to be the end of things._

.

* * *

.

“F-Father,” Sammy asked slowly as Susie started to tremble. “W-What...I mean, you were at the studio when we stopped Joey...and Joshua said you were part of the search party…” He looked at his father. “But I never heard your voice in the ink...your soul wasn’t in the ink!”

“Joey had our souls trapped in the cutouts, the posters. Nowhere near the ink so that there’d be no chance we could influence or give any of you hope.”

“T-That’s why he hated when I destroyed the cutouts…” Susie whimpered weakly. 

“It was rather difficult for the bastard to mock us when he had to continuously lug around the cutouts or busts of characters to where he wants us to show off.” Was the deadpan retort as Sammy let out a long sigh, rubbing the back of his head. 

“Even with whatever he saw,” Betty said sternly. “That doesn’t excuse what you did. You lied about Sammy, and you lied about what happened between you two, and you _attacked_ his sister. Susan, why?”

“I…” Susie sighed sadly. “I was angry about losing the role of Alice...and I blamed Sammy for not stopping it…and I lashed out at everything that reminded me of it.”

“A job?” James asked slowly. “All of that, for a damn job?” Susie didn’t look at her father as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. 

“It was a part of her,” Sammy attempted to argue but wilted as he saw the disappointment on his father’s face as he looked at his son about to ask why he was still defending Susie.

“She called me a traitor.” The attention turned to Nancy as she held her arms, speaking softly, uncharacteristically timid. “That I was nothing but a fake...that I was worse than my brother who abandoned his family...I-I was stealing Alice from you...that I d-deserved this…” Augustus quickly pulled Nancy into a hug, trying to calm her down, as Rebecca rubbed her daughter’s back. Susie struggled to form words, to say anything that could help her or convey how sorry she was, but her tongue had turned to lead as the reality of her actions was crashing down on her.

.

* * *

.

“You’re not supposed to eat it that fast Squishy!” Mary said gently as Squish whimpered, having gotten to experience a brain freeze. “That’s a brain freeze…” Tom grunted as he stared at the bowl Allison had, obviously skeptical of this idea of a brain freeze. Squish shook his head quickly before going back at the ice cream, earning giggles from the toddlers as Bendy got the brain freeze as well.

“Well, you’re pretty unlucky Ben,” Shawn chuckled. “So, we’ve got about another hour before Henry’s back from his boring old work meeting, so where do you guys want to go?” Ruby’s fell slightly, obviously concerned about encountering the Pendles again.

“We could go to the library!” Bendy offered. “I mean the librarian has lots of cool books we could read!” Squish started to sign and Allison smile kinda fell slightly.

“Go see Joey?” Allison said. “Squish, doesn’t he stay with that Esther woman? It would be a bit weird to-”

“Yeah! Maybe Joey could have some cool stories!” Boris said excitedly and Ruby started to smile slightly. “He’s always got fun ones!”

“And Issac does have cool comic books too…” Ruby offered before looking at Allison and Tom. “Is it ok we do that?” Allison smiled softly. 

“Of course Ruby, I think that would be better than risking seeing them again…Tom might growl at them again.” Tom raised an eyebrow, unimpressed as the kids and toon started to giggle, before signing.

“You’re lucky you pull the cute eyes.”

“You totally would though.” She smirked playfully before they went back to eating ice cream.


	3. Chapter 3

Susie Campbell was headed full tilt toward a panic attack. Despite all her ‘soul-searching’ and thinking about what she’d done, she hadn’t truly grasped the magnitude of her actions until this moment. Until she was faced with that the fact that her _parents_ knew. That **_Father Lawrence_** knew. She’d known she’d hurt Nancy. She’d known even as she’d said the words that what she was doing was wrong. But she’d done it anyway. Because she’d been hurting and she wanted everyone to hurt the way she did. That was how she’d always reacted. It had certainly gotten her in quite a bit of trouble when she’d been in school. It had had consequences before, but not at this scale. Of course, she’d never done something so horrible on this scale before.

“Let’s go,” Augustus whispered to Nancy, gently trying to tug her away.

“Yeah, okay.” Nancy murmured. Her eyes were cast downward as if she had returned to being the scared little girl who’d been betrayed by the person she admired most.

“I’m…I’m sorry.” Susie squeaked. “I’m s-sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“I think you did mean to.” Father Lawrence cut her off. “You meant to hurt my daughter. Maybe you didn’t understand what the consequences would be, but you meant to hurt her.” His voice was completely calm, but everyone could see the anger burning in his eyes. Susie averted her gaze. He was right and she knew it. Maybe this was how Joey had felt when being confronted with his crimes. Surely…Surely, she wasn’t as bad as Joey, was she? Joey had lied and manipulated and hurt. But Father Lawrence wasn’t angry at Joey. Her parents weren’t angry at Joey. They were angry at **her**.

“I thought you’d grown out of this, Susan.” James sighed heavily. Susie hunched her shoulders. Her parents’ disapproval made this even worse. They knew what she’d done. They **knew**. They’d known for a long time. Her breathing began to speed up. She was never going to get away from this. She was never going to be able to get better. This was who she’d be for the rest of her life. No matter how much she tried, _this_ was how people would remember her. Not as Alice Angel, but as a manipulative snake who’d hurt the people who’d loved her.

**_Bitch_ **

**_Traitor_ **

**_Petty little whore_ **

**_You’d sell your own family out just for a chance to be Alice again, wouldn’t you?_ **

**_Joey didn’t even have to try with you. You did all the work for him._ **

She began to shake as the thoughts started to pile up. Every terrible thought she’d been keeping under wraps came bursting forth.

“We should go,” Rebecca suggested, taking Sammy by the hand. Sammy briefly tried to pull away. He had to go to Susie. He had to calm her down. Then he felt his father’s hand on his shoulder. He let out a small sigh and allowed himself to be led away, leaving Susie with her parents.

“We’re very disappointed in you, Susan,” Betty said.

“I’m sorry.” Susie whimpered.

“Are you? Or are you just sorry there were consequences?” James folded his arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Susie was on the verge of tears. “I didn’t think about it. I was just angry and I wanted other people to hurt. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.” Her breath came in big hiccupping gasps. She **was** sorry. Faced with the consequences of her actions, and how deeply she’d hurt the girl she’d thought of as a little sister, she felt awful. She’d been a terrible person and she was ashamed of everything she’d done. Her father had been right. It had **just** been a job. It hadn’t been worth all this. She’d acted like a spoiled little girl who hadn’t wanted to share her favorite toy.

“I-I’ve been awful.” Susie blubbered, snorting in an undignified fashion as tears spilled down her cheeks and snot leaked from her nose. “No wonder no one wants me around! I’d be better off dead!”

“Don’t say that,” James said. “You’re going too far in the other direction.”

“Let’s get you home.” Betty took her by the arm. “We can talk about this more when you’re calmer.” Susie continued to blubber and wail as she was led away.

Betty and James exchanged a glance. They’d always had a bit of trouble with Susie when she’d been younger. She tended to lash out when she was angry, hurting everyone around her so that they hurt the way that she did. They’d had many conversations after they’d found out she’d been bullying other girls at school. They’d thought that had solved the problem. They thought she’d understand how much she hurt other people when she did things like this. Evidently, she hadn’t. They didn’t know what to do. The consequences to Susie’s actions were far bigger this time around. A simple “I’m Sorry” wasn’t going to make this all better. But they had to figure something out.

The Lawrence family walked in complete silence for quite a while. Nancy and Augustus had already gone on ahead, which left Sammy alone with his parents. Sammy’s heart was in his throat. There had been a point where his parents had approved of Susie. But that had been before. He thought about Before a lot. Before the studio, Before Joey’s experiments. Before they’d all changed. He so wished things could go back to the way they’d been before. Things had been fine before Joey had decided to pursue this whole “make the toons live” thing. He hadn’t been the best boss, but he’d been good enough. They’d been happy. They’d all been happy. Maybe things hadn’t been perfect, but they’d been happy. He and Susie had been happy.

Before long, Father Lawrence spoke up.

“Why are you still defending her?” He asked, looking back at his son. Sammy instinctively hunched his shoulders.

“She’s trying to get better.” He said weakly.

“Is that the only reason?”

“…I’m tired of being angry at everyone,” Sammy said. “It’s just so…exhausting.” His shoulders slumped. He was tired. So incredibly tired. It felt like it was just one bad thing after another. They’d gotten out of the studio, but they hadn’t truly escaped.

“And she’s carrying your baby,” Rebecca added.

“…That too.”

“If you want to forgive her, I won’t dissuade you.” Father Lawrence remained stone-faced. “But I will not. She betrayed my trust with the lies she spread about you and her actions toward your sister. I do not take kindly to that.”

“Yeah, I…I can understand that.” Sammy nodded. “She…She messed up. A lot.”

“That is a massive understatement.” The barest hint of distaste flashed across Father Lawrence’s features.

“I know. But I don’t want to abandon her this time.” There was a hint of guilt in Sammy’s words, as though he thought he could have prevented what happened to both Nancy and Susie. If he’d just been there for Susie…If he’d just been there for her, maybe she wouldn’t have overreacted like this. Maybe he could have prevented Joey getting his clutches in her.

“Don’t blame yourself for what she did.” Rebecca touched her son’s shoulder. “You’re not responsible for her actions.”

“I know.” Sammy nodded once more, but his words rang hollow. He was so tired of all this. It seemed like the obstacles never ended. It was just one mishap after another.

.

Esther was more than a little surprised when she opened her front door to find three children, Shawn Flynn, the three toons, an inky copy of Allison Pendle, a Boris with a mechanical arm, and a giant ink demon standing there. Not too surprised, of course, given all she’d seen and experienced over the past few months. Mostly she was just surprised they’d shown up without warning.

“Hello. Can I help you?” She tried to stifle the smile that was creeping up on her face.

“Hello, Mrs. Klein.” Shawn smiled sheepishly. “Sorry to drop in on you unannounced-”

“We’re here to see Mr. Joey!” Ruby announced, stepping forward.

“We want to hear a story!” Bendy said. Boris, Alice, and the large demon nodded enthusiastically.

“They said he had good stories.” The girl and boy, who Esther realized as Lewis’ niece and nephew Matthias and Mary, agreed with their own enthusiastic nods.

“Well, **he’s** the one being told a story right now.” Esther chuckled. “But if you’d like to wait, I’m sure he’d be happy to oblige. He’s in the living room.” The collective children, along with the large demon, cheered and charged into the house.

“Thank you, ma’am.” The inky copy of Allison inclined her head respectfully as they passed. The Boris with the mechanical arm nodded as well. Esther laughed softly, closing the door behind them.

"Why don't I fix you some tea, Mr. Flynn?" She suggested. 

"Sounds good." Shawn agreed.

In the living room, Isaac was in the middle of explaining the plot of the Dark Phoenix Saga to his uncle while Joey stared at him with increasing confusion and horror. Rachel was reading, but every so often she’d chime in to add something Isaac had missed. This only added to Joey’s growing horror.

“How do you keep all this straight?” He asked. “This seems so complicated.”

“Comics are complicated.” Isaac shrugged.

“But how do you keep this straight?”

“We don’t. Not always.” Rachel said. “But we remember really random things.”

“I can’t remember the capital of Uruguay, but I can remember the entire backstory of Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales.” Isaac smiled proudly.

“I…see…” Joey nodded slowly. This was a lot.

“Joey!” The story was interrupted by the arrival of Ruby, Matthias, Mary, all three toons, the giant ink demon, and the two new arrivals from the studio. The children all immediately mobbed him, flinging themselves on top of him.

“Tell us a story!” Bendy demanded.

“Boris says you tell really good stories!” Mary added.

“We wanna hear a story!” Matthias agreed. Squish made an excited noise, rubbing up against Joey in the manner a cat would.

“Well…” Joey looked at his nephew. “Only if you’re done.”

“It’s fine,” Isaac assured him. “I think I was confusing you anyway.”

“Oh, you totally were.” Rachel snickered.

“I guess I’m just too old to keep up with this sort of thing.” Joey laughed weakly. “Anyway, what sort of story would you all like to hear?”

“A fairytale!” Alice said.

“No! A horror story!” Bendy cut in.

“A funny story!” Ruby clapped her hands together.

“Yeah! A funny story!” Mary agreed.

“I wanna hear an adventure story!” Matthias piped up.

“I know a few fairytales.” Joey smiled softly, patting Squish’s head. “Ones with adventure and horror.”

“Nothing too dark.” Esther’s voice came from another room. “You don’t want to give them nightmares.”

“We’re not gonna have nightmares!” Bendy protested.

“Maybe not you, but the others might.” Ink Allison’s gaze flicked to the human children. The nightmares Joey was capable of creating weren’t suitable for anyone, least of all young children.

“How does Godfather Death sound to you?” Joey asked.

“What’s that one?” Rachel looked up from her book with a frown. “I’ve never heard of that one before.”

“It was one of the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm,” Joey replied, a faraway look in his eyes. “I heard it a long time ago.”

“It sounds a bit dark.” Ink Allison said.

“I think it sounds cool!” Bendy’s eyes lit up.

“I don’t know…” Ruby’s brow furrowed. “Are people gonna die in this story?” Joey didn’t answer, which was rather telling.

“I kind of want to hear it.” Isaac smiled sheepishly. All eyes turned to the man sitting on the ground, staring off into the distance. Soon, he began.

“Once upon a time, there was a poor man who had twelve children. He worked just hard enough to feed each of them, but still, he lived in poverty. When his thirteenth child was born, he decided he would find a godfather for his child. He went out to the highway and found God walking on the highway. God offered to be the godfather, promising the child health and happiness. But the man declined, saying that God condones poverty. The man then met the Devil on the hallway. The Devil asked to be the godfather, promising the child gold and the world’s joys. The man declined, saying that the Devil deceives mankind. Then the man met Death. The man decided Death would be his child’s godfather because Death does not discriminate between rich and poor. That Sunday, Death was made the child’s godfather.

The man’s wife gave birth to a girl, the only one she had ever conceived. The girl was not like her brothers. She was not content to work her life away. She wanted much from the world and was determined to get it. She took in everything she saw, appraising it and deciding what she could use. She was a cunning one.

When the girl came of age, Death appeared to her and led her into the woods to behold a special herb. Death promised to make the girl a famous physician, saying that when the girl visited a sick person, Death would appear next to them. If Death appeared at the person’s head, the girl was allowed to administer the herb and cure the patient. But if Death appeared at the person’s feet, they would die. And so, as Death promised, the girl became famous, receiving much gold for her abilities. She was quite pleased with this outcome, having everything she could have ever asked for in life. But she was not satisfied, as she knew she could acquire more. Soon, though, a king fell ill and asked for the prestigious doctor.

When the doctor went to see the king, she found Death standing at the foot of the king’s bed. Seeing what she could gain from this, she turned the bed to trick Death. Upon giving the king the special herbs, he was cured. Death approached the doctor afterward, expressing anger toward his godchild for tricking him and disobeying the rules. But Death did not punish her, for the doctor was his godchild. Still, he warned the doctor that the next time this happened, he would not be so forgiving. Not long after that, the princess fell ill. The king promised the princess’ hand in marriage should the doctor cure her, but when the doctor visited, Death was at the princess’ feet. The doctor could not let an opportunity like this pass her by, and so she repeated her trick and gave the princess the herbs.

Just as the princess was coming around, Death grabbed the doctor by the arm and dragged her into a cavern. The cavern was filled with thousands up thousands of candles, each burned down to different lengths. Death explained that the length of each candle showed how much longer a person has to live. Stepping aside, Death showed the doctor her candle. The candle was almost burned out, showing the doctor didn’t have much longer to live. The doctor could see that she had been backed into a corner, and so innocently asked if Death himself had a candle. Death replied that he did not, but the doctor would not relent. Innocently, once more, she asked if Death had a candle. Surely, she said, there must be something for him.

Death decided he had grown tired of this conversation, raising his scythe to extinguish the doctor’s flame. The doctor did not let him do this. For a moment, all the candles in the cavern went out. When they returned, Death was gone, and the doctor held his scythe.”

Joey finished, letting a breath slip from his lips. The living room was silent. Everyone was staring at him. Even Esther had come in to stare.

“That’s not how that story goes.” She said.

“It’s not?” Joey frowned.

“No. The godchild is a boy and Death kills him for disobeying him.”

“That’s strange.” Joey’s frown deepened. “That’s the version I heard. A woman at the university library told it to me.” She’d been a strange one. He couldn’t remember her name, but she’d said she was a visiting medical professor. She’d had a German accent if he remembered correctly.

“Did…Did the doctor kill Death?” Ruby asked quietly, her lip quivering.

“Why would she do that?” Mary looked equally upset.

“You can’t kill Death.” Matthias protested, although he too looked shaken. “That-That just can’t happen.” The toons didn’t say anything, clinging to one another. All of them looked like they were having flashbacks to the studio. Squish whimpered, hugging Joey’s arms tighter.

“That was creepy.” Isaac glanced at Ink Allison and Tom Boris. Ink Allison was holding Tom Boris’ hand so tightly her knuckles seemed to be going white.

“Something with princesses might have been better,” Rachel added.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to dwell on Joey’s incredibly creepy story too much longer as someone came bursting into the living room. It was a man in a suit, although it looked like he’d dressed in a hurry. He also looked like he had a fever.

“Did- Did I miss it?” He sniffed loudly, swaying in place.

“Alan, you should be at home.” Esther crossed the room. “Helen said it was alright. You have a fever of 102. You shouldn’t even be out of bed.”

“No, I-I need to walk her down the aisle. I pr-promised I would.” He looked like he was about to fall over at the slightest breeze.

“Alan?” Ink Allison whispered, her eyes going wide.

“Al- Alli?” The man, Alan, peered owlishly past Esther. “What’re-What’re you doing here? I thought…You’re missing?” Then he promptly fell over.

“Do you…know him?” Joey looked back at Ink Allison.

“Know him? He’s my brother!”


	4. Chapter 4

...

“You have a brother?” Joey asked dumbly as Esther and Shawn helped pick up Alan and maneuver the man to the couch, to which the kids and toons got off to help get the man comfortable. “Huh...I thought you were an only child…” The ink Allison rolled her eyes as Squish poked the other man curiously.

“Mr. Pendle certainly didn’t mention that bit...” Shawn mused absently as Allison looked at her brother, who had fallen asleep though looking pained and his face was flushed. Esther took her shoulder gently and Allison looked at her.

“He’ll be alright, he’s just got a fever…” She said before turning to Rachel. “Can you grab a washcloth?” Rachel nodded and hurried to grab it. “He’s rather stubborn,” Allison laughed, faintly remembering a memory. Admittedly it was fuzzy, but Allison remembered a boy that looked similar to Alan arguing with an older man while people were watching and chuckling.

“Yeah…”

“He never mentioned that…” Joey muttered softly. “Though I guess that explains why he was there too…” Tom Boris raised an eyebrow but Ruby grabbed the attention.

“Are we gonna call Mr. Lewis and Misses Helen?” She asked curiously and Esther chuckled.

“That’s probably a good idea, I know that they’re getting ready to head on their honeymoon, but this does pull rank,” She chuckled before looking at her son. “Can you grab the phone for me?”

.

* * *

.

“He doesn’t care….” Augustus looked at his fiancee as they sat on the couch in the house.

“Pardon?” Nancy looked at him, her eyes puffy.

“Sammy doesn’t care. He doesn’t care what happened...what she did…” Augustus rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. “Even with all the fucking evidence, he’s still wanting to get back in bed with her. And to have the fucking gall to ask me to raise their kid!?” Nancy let out a frustrated groan. 

“Maybe they thought it would be better than putting the kid up for adoption...or foster care…” Augustus offered gently and Nancy scoffed.

“Yeah, cause that’s the high-road to take. Ask the girl that you said was nothing and a traitor and who you beat the shit out of to raise the baby you had with her missing brother. Make her look at you everyday for the rest of her life, even if the kid looked like Sammy and remember the fact that in the totem pole you’re at the bottom…” She let out a tired sigh. “She could’ve killed me and Sammy would’ve taken her side.”

“Ok, that might be a stretch,” Augustus argued and Nancy looked at him skeptically. “I mean, I remember him defending Ruby when Susie tried to get her to be a bit more ladylike when chasing the toons the other day.” Nancy chuckled slightly.

“Ok, that’s a point, but we both know that Chris would’ve turned him into a pretzel.” Augustus chuckled. “Sides, Ruby’s cute in that ‘total angel’ department…”

“Pffft, you heard what happened at the wedding after they left; Ruby found them and dragged them back to the reception. They’re going to learn the truth that that’s the normal Rubes.” Nancy snorted. 

“You got a point there, I guess…” She chuckled before sighing sadly. Augustus pecked her head.

“I know it’s hard, but we got to have some hope…” Augustus admitted. “The truth is probably crashing down on them, and they’re trying to figure out the right thing to do without seeming fake…” He sighed. “If they don’t change, well, we’re not obligated to speak with them…even if it does hurt…” Nancy shrugged in defeat and leaned against him. “We can focus on happier stuff right now…like how we can get Joshua and Cordelia to finally tie the knot.” Nancy giggled. “Maybe we can borrow Murray and Julius and have the two tie them up,” 

“Dawn might agree to that one!” She laughed before sighing gently. “Maybe we’ll use them instead of a ring bearer…” Augustus chuckled.

“Better not let the demon fella know, he wants to be ring bearer!” The two started laughing about the image of a cartoon demon being the ring bearer for their wedding.

.

* * *

.

“Alan…” 

“I-I’m-” Alan coughed loudly as Helen shook her head. “I-I’m fine…”

“You’re lucky that your fever is breaking.” Helen scolded. “I told you it was fine.”

“But...I…”

“Besides, you managed to avoid seeing Dad, so I’d say it was a good thing you weren’t there.” Alan made a weak groan as Lewis stifled a snort.

“Your head is still hot.” Ruby said sternly, placing her hand on Alan’s head.

“Maybe we should use an ice cream container!” Bendy offered. “That’ll cure it!”

“You’re just using that as an excuse to have ice cream.”

“W-What?! No, you’re being ridiculous Matthias!” Bendy laughed nervously.

“You sure about that Bendy?” Mary asked, raising an eyebrow. “You did try to take Mr. Flynn’s ice cream when he wasn’t looking…”

“Hey!” 

“I’m going to be fine…” Alan mumbled, wiping his face with the washcloth. “Helen, I know but-”

“It’s. Fine.” Helen said firmly. “You’re sick, and the last thing you needed was to fight with Dad when you’re not 100%.”

“But-”

“She’s right.” Allison said.

“Uncle Bertie handled him anyways.” Ruby said simply. “So don’t worry about it! Sides, you need to get better so we can play again!” Alan chuckled.

“Yeah...there is that…”

“And see Aunt Allison and Uncle Dave too. They miss you too.” Alan blinked in confusion as Allison winced slightly.

“Ruby...Alli is right there…”

“Yeah, but there’s now two Aunt Allisons!” Ruby said, as if it wasn’t that big of a deal. “Uncle Murray says it has to do with souls, but that just sounds silly!”

“It kinda does.” Mary noted before shrugging. “Besides, we don’t have that many aunts anyways, so the more the merrier.” Matthias nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, aunts are cools.”

“You sure it’s not because she has a sword and her friend has a metal arm?” Lewis teased and the twins went bright red, earning some chuckling as Lewis looked at the woman and Tom. “Nancy got them into those kung fu movies and their dad doesn’t want them to be breaking things.”

“I wouldn’t break anything!” Mary huffed, crossing her arms. “I would be cool!” Lewis raised an eyebrow.

“Mrs. Ross would make the argument that her flower vase was very much a thing you two broke last time you came down.” Ruby looked at Mary and Mathias in shock.

“That was you guys?! Uncle Henry said it was Mr. Jackson’s cat!” Ruby’s cheek puffed up and Shawn had to turn away to hide his laughter as Joey snickered. Allison smiled softly as her brother took her hand and smiled.

“We’ll figure this out at our own pace…I’m surprisingly good at adapting…”

"Yeah...."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Lawrence siblings have a talk

Almost as soon as they got home, Augustus called Sammy. The Lawrence siblings needed to talk this out. Nancy had every right to be angry. She had every right to be furious at Susie for everything she’d done to her and her family. Sammy’s lack of reaction and eagerness to defend Susie did bother Augustus a little bit as well.

“Hello?” Rebecca was the one who picked up the phone.

“Hey, Mrs. Lawrence,” Augustus said.

“Ah, hello, Augustus. Is everything alright?” It was only natural she’d be concerned that he was calling since they’d just seen each other.

“Everything’s fine. I just wanted to know if Sammy was there.”

There was a moment of silence, presumably her checking, before she replied. “He is. Would you like to talk to him?”

“No thank you.” Augustus shook his head, despite knowing she couldn’t see him. “Could you tell him to come over? I think he and Nancy need to talk.”

Rebecca laughed softly. “You know, getting those two to talk won’t be easy. They’re both stubborn as mules, just like their father. Especially when it comes to their feelings.”

“Yeah, this is going to be an uphill battle.” Augustus chuckled weakly. “Just like with Uncle Bertie. But I figure if I lock them in a room alone something will happen.”

“Well, good luck.”

Ten minutes later, Sammy was knocking on their door.

“Who’s that?” Nancy asked, starting to get up from the couch. “We’re not expecting anyone, are we?”

“I am.” Augustus gestured for her to sit down, going and opening the door. Almost as soon as Nancy saw Sammy, her face contorted in rage.

“What is **he** doing here?!” She demanded, springing to her feet.

“I called him,” Augustus explained. “You two need to talk this out.”

“I can go if you want,” Sammy said, already turning to leave. But Augustus grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him back inside.

“No.” He narrowed his eyes. “You two are talking this out. I’m not letting you two stay angry at each other.”

“I don’t have anything to say to him.” Nancy spat before storming off into a different room. Sammy’s shoulders slumped.

“I should go.” He said. His tone was flat, emotionless, weary.

“I’m not letting you leave until you two talk.” Augustus maintained eye contact as he locked the door. “And I do mean that. You both have some issues that you need to work through. You can’t just let this fester.”

Sammy couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Good to know Nancy’s marrying someone who’s just as stubborn as her.”

“Well, I have to make sure my clients know I’m not a pushover.” Augustus folded his arms with a slight smirk. “Uncle Bertie left big shoes to fill.”

“It sounds like you’re filling them just fine.” Sammy felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He’d been rather awful to Augustus in the beginning. Why was his first response to everything always anger? All he ever did was get angry. Now he had no anger left. He’d burned himself out.

“She’s probably in the bedroom. Last door on the right.” Augustus gestured to the hallway deeper in. Sammy nodded, following the directions to the bedroom. He could hear Nancy inside, muttering to herself and pacing. He sighed to himself. This wasn’t going to be fun. He knew he should be feeling…something. Fear, frustration. But there was nothing. Just exhaustion.

“Nancy, can I talk to you?” He knocked tentatively.

“Go away.” Nancy snapped. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Well, Augustus said he wasn’t going to let me leave until we talked.”

There was some muffled swearing before Nancy opened the door, still looking furious.

“Fine. Come in.” She stood aside so he could enter. He walked in, stopping in the middle of the room and just standing there. He expected she’d start yelling pretty soon.

“So?” Nancy shut the door and turned back to him. “What do you have to say?”

“What do you **want** me to say?”

“I want to know why you’re still defending her.” She didn’t even need to say Susie’s name. They both knew who Nancy was talking about.

“Does it even really matter what I say at this point?” Sammy asked.

“What is with you today?!” Nancy demanded. “Why are you acting all defeated?!”

“It’s just been a long day, Nancy.”

Her brother’s defeated attitude was just serving to make Nancy even angrier. He was her big brother! He should be furious with Susie for hurting her like this! He was supposed to protect her!

“Why are you siding with her?” She asked. “Why are you defending her after everything she did? Why are you pretending that nothing ever happened?!”

“I’m not pretending nothing happened.” The barest hint of annoyance flashed across Sammy’s features.

“Well, it sure seems like you are! You don’t even care, do you?!” Nancy yelled. “Do you have any idea how much she hurt me?! And she didn’t just go after me, she went after our whole fucking family! This wasn’t just one little mistake, Sammy! She had a plan!”

“I know.” Sammy hung his head. That had hurt more than anything else. Susie had hurt his **family**. She’d been angry at **him** and had taken it out on his family. He couldn’t even be angry. He just felt betrayed.

“Then why are you just brushing it off?!” Nancy demanded, jabbing a finger into his chest. “Why are you pretending like it didn’t matter?! Like I didn’t have to go through years of therapy because of her!”

“Because I’m tired!” Sammy snapped back. His voice came out sharper than he’d expected and he quickly deflated.

“I’m tired, Nancy.” He repeated quietly. “I’m tired of being angry. I’ve been angry for so long. Anger and hatred were all that kept me going in that hellhole for 30 years. I was angry at Joey. I was angry at your boyfriend. I was angry at that Foster kid. It’s just so…” His shoulders slumped. “Exhausting. I’ve been so angry for so long that I just…burned myself out.”

“So you’re just giving up? You’re letting it go?” Nancy’s voice was quiet as well, but her body shook with barely contained rage. “Just because she said sorry, suddenly it’s all okay? You two are going to be a happy little family and pretend nothing happened?”

“We can’t pretend nothing happened. None of us can do that.” Sammy replied. “I just want to move on. I want to try and have something like a normal life again.” He groaned, running his hands through his hair. “I just, for once, want to go through a day without having some kind of emotional blowout or find out some huge secret or do black magic. I want to be normal again.”

“None of us are ever going to be normal again.” Nancy scoffed.

“I guess that’s true.” Sammy took a deep breath. “Look, we’re not just going to pretend nothing happened. Susie isn’t going to get to walk away from this. No one’s going to let her forget it. But if Joey fucking Drew can try to get better, then so can she.” He rested his hands on Nancy’s shoulders. “I’m not going to ask you to forgive her. She fucked up pretty badly and you have every right to withhold your forgiveness. But I want to try and make things better with her.”

Nancy hunched her shoulders, maintaining eye contact with him. “Why aren’t you angry? She hurt us.”

“I don’t know.” He withdrew his hands. “But I am upset with her. Extremely upset. She was angry with me and took it out on you and that’s something I don’t think I can ever forgive.”

“But you’re just going to jump back into bed with her?” Nancy narrowed her eyes.

“I’m not just going to jump into bed with her.” Annoyance registered again on Sammy’s face. “I want to work on helping her to be a better person. We’re not just going back to the way we used to be.” Gods knew that was true. They were never going to be what they’d once been. They weren’t the same people they’d been before. It was only just hitting him how much she’d betrayed his trust by going after his family.

“I’m not going to let her pull this shit again.” He continued after taking a deep breath. “It was my fault it happened in the first place and I’m not going to let it happen again.”

“It was not your fault. She made that decision all on her own.” Nancy said, folding her arms. “Don’t try to be some kind of martyr.”

“But it **was** my fault.” Sammy insisted. “I let Joey replace her. I disappeared.”

“She threw a temper tantrum because things didn’t go her way.” Nancy fired back. “And it’s not like you could have done anything to get her that role back. Drew was the one who decided who did what. He outranked you or whatever. This is all on her. She’s a grown-ass woman who behaved like a fucking child.”

“I…” Sammy opened his mouth to object, but quickly trailed off. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Just because you got trapped in a studio for 30 years doesn’t mean you get to start being all self-pitying. Get over yourself.” Nancy rolled her eyes.

“You always know how to keep me humble.” A smile tugged at the corners of Sammy’s lips.

“Someone has to.” Nancy allowed a smirk to creep up on her features as well. “Wouldn’t want you getting a swelled head.”

“You’re such a little shit.”

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”

They settled into their familiar sibling bickering, both feeling a bit better. Things weren’t miraculously fixed, there was still work to be done, but they didn’t want to yell at each other anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

....

“Do you need help ma’am?” Jacob asked as he walked past the studio, heading home from the library, spotting the woman standing in front of the fencing around the studio. The older woman turned and smiled.

“Oh no, thank you though,” She chuckled, Jacob noting the slight accent. “I was just looking at this building here.” Jacob nodded slowly. 

“Ah, alright, sorry for bothering you-”

“Oh nonsense sweetheart!” She laughed gently. “You didn’t know, and it’s certainly nice that you took a moment of your time to talk to me.” Jacob smiled slightly before the woman checked her watch. “Oh, I better get going, I have a rather important meeting to attend! Have a good night child!” Jacob watched the woman walk away, feeling a strange chill down his spine before he quickly shook his head and adjusted his jacket before heading home.

“Man, the weird stuff is never going to end with that place…” He muttered to himself, trying to avoid looking at the studio as he hurried past it.

.

* * *

.

“Oh, Mr. Charles!” Chris mentally groaned as he saw Mr. and Mrs. Pendle walk by the diner as he was walking back from throwing out the trash, but kept his smile.

“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Pendle...how can I help you guys?”

“Oh we’re just heading back home,” She chuckled. “We past by your daughter and her friends, and I must say, while she looks a little sickly, I’m finally glad you found a girlfriend!” Chris blinked slowly, obviously confused. “She will most certainly teach Ruby how to be proper lady in no-time,”

“Considering how messy she was at the park, she’s got a way to go,” Mr. Pendle muttered, earning a playful shoulder smack.

“Patience, darling, the best things come to those who wait,” Chris bit back an eye roll, realizing what they were talking about.

“Allison is just a friend, and we’re-”

“Christopher.” Mrs. Pendle said firmly, taking the man’s hand. “It isn’t fair for both you and Ruby to not actually settle down with a wife. I know Mrs. Ross is a very helpful woman, but don’t you think it’s unfair for her?”

“One, Mrs. Ross _offered_ to help me take care of Ruby.” Chris stated, taking his hands away from Mrs. Pendle. “And two, my daughter is perfectly happy with her aunts and uncles. So if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate if you two stop offering advice on how I can raise my daughter.” Mrs. Pendle sighed, about to open her mouth and say something patronizing, as an arm wrapped around Chris’s shoulder.

“Everything alright Chris?” Roy asked, glaring cooling at the two older couple.

“Yeah, I was just about to head back into the diner.” Chris said, noting the forced smiles from the Pendles; they weren’t exactly subtle about their distaste of the former actor but since Roy towered over the two, obviously they weren’t going to say anything to his face. “You on your lunch?”

“Early Day today, so we can have our date early.” Roy pecked Chris on the cheek as both the Pendle’s faces went interesting shades of red as he led Chris into the diner, where Hye looked up from the register and looked at the two.

“There’s a free table in the corner for you two lovebirds to eat lunch before the rush comes in.” She said simply, both men going shades of pink. “And Roy?”

“Y-Yes ma’am?”

“Thank you for shutting up those two.” She said simply. “They’re blocking the door and keeping the customers out. Now, go eat you two; you’re both far too skinny.” Chris groaned in embarrassment as Hye smirked. “We can’t have you two blowing away on a windy day or if that demon manages to find a large fan.” Hye snickered; she certainly loved teasing the fathers of her ‘grandchild’.

.

* * *

.

“Why?” Ryan asked as his mother came out of the room she and her husband helped Susie into, the woman still in hysterics and struggling to deal with the realization of her actions. Betty looked at her son.

“Ryan,” She said softly. “She is family,”

“But she treated us like crap,” Ryan said. “I mean, I know that we can’t choose our family, but you remember what she said...what she called us…” Ryan crossed his arms, no doubt remembering the event. “It’s no better than what Mr. Pendle called Dad…” Betty smiled softly and took her son’s shoulder.

“Susan was angry and wanted everyone else to feel her pain.” Betty said. “We didn’t do a very good job in teaching you all how to express-”

“Ma, don’t blame yourself!” Ryan said quickly. “It’s not-”

“Ah, ah, ah. Don’t interrupt your mother.” Betty scolded. “And regardless, we can now work together to help each other. It will be difficult no doubt, but I will not let Susan be alone to handle this.” Ryan looked at his mother and chuckled.

“You’re stubborn Ma.”

“You had to learn from somewhere Ryan,” Betty joked, patting her son on the shoulder. “Come on, you can help me with dinner tonight.”

.

* * *

.

“Can I please get up now?” Bendy shook his head as he sat on Alan.

“Nope!” The demon said simply, earning a chuckle from Joey as he sat in one of the chairs, Ruby and Squish sleeping on opposite sides of him. “Not till you’re better.”

“The room’s not spinning. Does that help?” Bendy looked over at Helen, who was fighting back a smile.

“Does it Mrs. Helen?”

“No it doesn’t.” Helen said firmly. “You’re staying in bed till you get better. End of story.”

“But this is-”

“Helen is right.” Esther said. “You can stay here until at least you don’t fall over walking two steps.” Alan groaned loudly, earning snickering from Bendy. “At least wait till after Rachel finishes making matzah ball soup. She’s extremely proud about being able to make it.” Joey smiled softly.

“I’ll certainly have to try it…I haven’t had matzah in years…” Joey chuckled softly. “Last time Susanna tried to make it and well, she tried her best but…” Alan turned to Joey, confusion obvious.

“How do you know Chris’s mom?” Joey paled, chuckling nervously. 

“Um…”

“Oh! Chris is me and Boris and Squish’s brother! And Ruby’s our niece!” Bendy said excitedly and Alan slowly turned to the demon before looking back at Joey.

“ _W_ _hat_.”


	7. Chapter 7

People had treated Roy differently before. Both before the accident and before he’d started dating men publicly. He’d been a good looking blond haired blue eyed Christian white man who knew exactly the right way to speak and he wasn’t ashamed to admit that this privilege had blinded him to the hardships many endured. He’d kept himself closeted for most of his life, trying to convince himself that what he was feeling wasn’t real, especially after he’d seen what had happened to his grade school-aged sister when she innocently kissed another girl on the playground. Those closest to him, his parents, Cordelia, his cousin Daryl, all knew of his feelings toward other men, but no one else was allowed to find out. Then the accident had occurred. His face had been ruined, he’d been crippled, and suddenly everyone looked at him differently. That had been when he’d decided he had nothing left to lose and started dating men publicly. Because fuck it, he had nothing left to lose. Thankfully, his parents had understood. No one else had, however.

The whispers had started after the Bell parents died. Marguerite had always been fiercely protective of her children and had never been afraid to ruffle the feathers of the local church population to keep them safe. With their greatest advocate gone, the Bell siblings became the subject of many a rumor. Cordelia starting work at Joey Drew Studios hadn’t helped. The longer Roy spent as the subject of rumors, the more pissed off he became at the people spreading them. His irritation had grown ten-fold when he’d met and been inducted into the social circle of the Ink Spectre Parlor. Even more when he’d begun dating Chris. Chris was doing the best he could to take care of Ruby, but nothing was ever good enough for the rumor mill. Working at a tattoo was improper, Ruby needed to be more ladylike, Ruby needed a proper mother figure, Chris needed a wife. It made Roy want to just scream at them sometimes.

“They’re the worst,” Roy muttered as he and Chris sat down at the corner table. “Acting kind until you no longer fit their definition of ‘proper’. It’s disgusting!”

“Yeah, they’re pretty annoying.” Chris agreed. “But hey, at least I’ve got you to protect me.” He touched Roy’s hand across the table. Roy blushed, averting his gaze and muttering something. It was rather easy for the people Roy cared about the fluster him. Chris found it rather adorable.

“You know, you’re pretty cute when you’re flustered.” Chris’ smile widened.

“I am **not** cute,” Roy replied petulantly.

“You most certainly are.”

“Am not.”

Chris laughed and Roy tried to ignore the way Chris’ smile lit up his whole face.

“Guess we’ll have to agree to disagree, huh?” Chris leaned back in his chair, throwing one arm over the back. Roy nodded.

“In any case.” He cleared his throat, trying to will his blush away. “We’ll have to figure out what to do about the…new arrivals.”

“It’s not really up to us what happens to them.” Chris shrugged. “That Tom Boris seems perfectly happy to just go back to being part of Tom, but it’s up to him and the other Allison what they want to do.”

“And the big demon just seems like a little kid.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Chris couldn’t help but laugh. For something so big, the lanky demon behaved rather like a small child. He seemed happy enough to just be around his siblings. Boris, Alice, and Bendy were all enamored with their new large sibling. Bendy rather liked using Squish as a bit of a living jungle gym.

“Ruby’s very popular with them,” Roy said, smiling softly. “The toons, I mean. It’s…sweet to see her having so much fun with them.”

“Yeah, it is.” Chris agreed. For a moment, he smiled at the thought of his daughter running around with the toons. Then his thoughts returned to Joey and an uncomfortable feeling settled in his stomach.

“Are you alright?” Roy’s expression turned concerned as Chris’ smile became a grimace.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just…” Chris hesitated, trying to put his feelings into words. “I don’t know. The whole thing with Joey is still weird.”

“That’s understandable.” Roy squeezed his hand. “I’m here for you. If you need me.” He still had trouble expressing his feelings. But for Chris, he made an effort.

“Thanks.” Chris squeezed his hand back, smiling.

“Are you two ready to order?” A waitress came up to them, pad in hand. Both men flushed, scrambling for their menus. They hadn’t even looked at them yet.

.

Robert Klein was on his way home from grocery shopping when he ran into the Pendle parents. He was in the middle of planning dinner and thus hadn’t noticed their approach until they were right in front of them. Robert didn’t enjoy being rude to people, but the Pendles just rubbed him the wrong way. Always so smug, as though they were certain their way was the right way.

“Mr. Klein!” He winced when Mrs. Pendle’s voice snapped him back to reality.

“Mrs. Pendle. Mr. Pendle. What a…pleasant surprise.” He forced himself to smile as he stopped in front of the couple. He would have very much preferred to cross the street before encountering them, but he would have had to be paying attention to have noticed them sooner. 

“ **You’re** doing the grocery shopping?” Mr. Pendle sneered. “Shouldn’t your wife be doing that?”

“She’s a bit busy right now.” Robert smiled sweetly. “I was going to cook dinner anyway, so I thought it would be best if I went and got the ingredients myself while she was occupied.”

“Don’t you think you two are setting a bad example for your children?” Mrs. Pendle said, smiling gently. It came off incredibly patronizing, as though she were speaking to a child and not a man of at least 45.

“Well, Esther could do with being a bit less reckless, but other than that I believe we’re doing fine.” Robert wasn’t a confrontational person by nature. He didn’t speak ill of people or get into fights. When faced with someone he didn’t like, he tended to just smile and nod enough to get out of the conversation. The Pendle parents, however, brought out a rather vindictive and petty side to him.

“That’s not really what I meant.” Mrs. Pendle put a hand on Robert’s shoulder. “Rachel needs a better example of how to be a lady.”

“And that son of yours is hardly a man.” Mr. Pendle scoffed. “They need proper role models. People who will show them the right way to behave. The woman should be in the home and the man should be out working.” And there it was. That was always the complaint. Robert should be the one working, not Esther. Nevermind that Esther made more as a lawyer than he had with his little bookshop.

“I suppose you two consider yourself proper role models?” Robert asked innocently, the disdain in his voice artfully hidden behind his false smile as he shrugged Mrs. Pendle’s hand off.

“Of course!” Mrs. Pendle chirped. “We’ve done our very best to set good examples for our children.”

“You think you’ve set good examples for your children?” Robert’s smile became more of a grimace.

“We’ve been _good_ parents.” Mr. Pendle said, narrowing his eyes. The subtext of that implied that they’d raised their children the “right” way. Robert kind of wanted to kick him in the shin.

“Personally, I’d prefer to have my children continue to talk to me.” Robert shrugged slightly. “But that’s just me.”

“What on Earth is that supposed to mean?” Mr. Pendle took a step toward him.

“Now, I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.” Mrs. Pendle put a hand on her husband’s shoulder to calm him, although she too looked a bit suspicious.

“I’m just saying, none of your children seem to enjoy being around either of you. After all, Allison ran away from you both the first chance she got, Helen didn’t invite you to her wedding, and, well, I’m not sure what Alan’s feelings are regarding you but I’m rather sure they aren’t positive. If you think that’s the result of _good_ parenting, I’m very sorry for whatever horrors you both experienced in your childhoods.” All of this was said with a deceptively sweet and cheerful smile. The Pendles stared at him. Their expressions were blank, like they were trying to process what had just been said to them.

“I really should be getting home now. I wouldn’t want the butter to melt. Good day!” Robert continued, pushing past them and speeding off while he still had the chance. He wasn’t sure how long their stupor would last and he did not want to be there when they snapped out of it. Perhaps he should have asked them to stop telling his family to go to church as well while he’d had them there. Too late now.

He didn’t stop until he reached the house and got inside, letting out a sigh of relief. That would certainly have _some_ fallout, but he felt better now that he’d said it. As he passed the living room to drop the groceries off in the kitchen, he heard the beginning of a fight brewing.

.

“Explain.” Alan stared intently at Joey. Joey squirmed under the younger man’s gaze, hunching his shoulders.

“Was I not supposed to say that?” Bendy asked, starting to look distraught. “I thought…” His lip started to quiver.

“It’s alright,” Esther assured him, scooping him up. “But you shouldn’t go blurting things like that out in the future.”

“Did I do a Rachel?” Bendy looked up at her with big eyes. Esther let out a small snort.

“Yes.” She fought back a smile. “You did.”

“Why is no one explaining?” Alan demanded. “What did he mean?” Helen looked equally lost, glancing from person to person, trying to figure out what everyone else seemed to know.

“Joey is Chris’ biological father,” Esther said. “None of us knew because Joey panicked and cut off contact when he found out Susanna had become pregnant.”

“I see.” Helen sat down beside Alan on the couch. She looked tired, which was understandable.

“So, you just…abandoned them?” Alan asked, turning his gaze back to Joey.

“I wouldn’t have been a good father.” Joey refused to look at Alan. “Not then. Not at that point.” If he had stayed with Susanna…He was sure they all would have been miserable. He knew what his younger self had been like. He would have been cruel and resentful, treating Susanna and Chris solely as pawns to further his reputation.

“You could’ve at least paid child support or something,” Alan said.

“I…Yes. I could have done that.” Joey nodded solemnly.

"Then why didn't you?" Alan started to rise off the couch only to fall back again as the whole room began to spin. 

"I don't know," Joey admitted. Well, he did know. He hadn't wanted to be connected to Susanna and her child. He hadn't wanted to be burdened with that responsibility. He had been a spoiled child who grew into a spoiled man who wanted everything to go exactly as he'd planned it. A child had not been in his plans. Not at that point. But that had been when he'd still been trying to delude himself into thinking he was straight. 

“Why don’t you continue this conversation when Chris gets here to pick Ruby up?” Esther suggested gently. “I’m sure he has something to say about it.” This conversation wasn't going anywhere good. Best to just nip it in the bud.

“That does seem like a good idea.” Helen agreed, gathering up the blanket to throw over Alan again. Alan protested, but he was still tired and woozy and Helen easily overpowered him. She tucked him in tightly, murmuring that he still needed rest. 

“I made the soup!” Rachel burst in with a bowl.

"Thank you, dear." Esther patted her head. "You can put it on the table." Rachel nodded, carefully making her way over to slowly put the soup down. Once she'd safely delivered the soup, she looked around, noting all the dour expressions. 

"Did...something happen?"


	8. Chapter 8

…..

_“Alan, listen to me, you should-”_

_“I’ll be called a traitor to the country dad!”_

_“What’s going on?” Helen whispered to herself, and after turning to make sure her daughter was still sleeping before heading into the living room and saw her brother and father in a yelling match. Alan was back from his meeting with Father Lawrence and once again the two were arguing about the draft notice. Her mother was trying to stop the two from doing anything reckless, but she was being ignored as the tensions were high._

_“You are going to be killed out there or worse!” Mr. Pendle snapped back, but Alan wasn’t flinching._

_“I have a duty to this-”_

_“Then what about your family!? You can’t just leave and-”_

_“You were never there for me in the first fucking place!” Alan snapped and Helen saw both her parents stare at their only son in shock. “You only cared when I made you or Mom look good! The moment I stopped fitting into your perfect bubble, you turn your back and try to ‘fix’ me! At least Grant’s Dad thinks about other's livelihood, but you guys? You only care about yourself and your precious little fucking bubble! No wonder Allison ran away!” Alan turned on his heels and stormed past his little sister and out the door, slamming the door hard enough to send the pictures on the walls to rattle slightly. Helen stared at the door before slowly turning back to her parents, her mother slumping onto the couch, tears starting to fall from her eyes. Helen quickly headed to the guest room to check on her daughter, a heavy feeling in her stomach regarding all of this._

_It would be a couple of weeks later when the Pendles would be informed about the death of Wilma’s child and what everyone feared._

_The search party wasn’t coming back._

.

* * *

.

“What’s going on?” Robert asked as he reentered the living room. “Oh, hi everyone…”

“Drew is Chris’s dad?!” Alan demanded before falling into a coughing fit. Bendy looked sheepish as he hopped off the man. “Does he know!?” Rachel chuckled nervously.

“I kinda...told him when I found out…” She admitted softly and Alan looked between the girl and then back at Joey as Lewis rubbed his temples.

“As if your folks didn’t have enough reason to keep hounding Chris…” Lewis muttered under his breath as Helen sighed.

“Looks, this sounds a little far fetched,” Helen admitted. “Besides, we have bigger things to worry about, namely the fact that you thought you could muscle through a fever of 100 plus!” Alan groaned in annoyance and tried to swat his sister away.

“N-No, I promised I’d-” 

“Huh?” Ruby yawned as she rubbed her eyes. “Wat’s going on?”

“We found out about the connection between you and Joey, Ruby.” Lewis said gently and the girl nodded, clearly still out of it.

“Yeah, it’s weird.” She mumbled before laying back against her grandfather and Joey made a face.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” He attempted to joke and got a sleepy grunt in return.

“She is your granddaughter.” Allison said slowly, her reaction hard to read, her hand on her belt and clenching it tightly. 

“Yes. She is.” Joey said tiredly, knowing full well that had there not been his sister or her children in the room, he would have paid for all the damage he had caused. “Can we please wait till Chris gets here? It’s only fair to him.” Allison frowned but Tom took her shoulder.

“We should wait and get the full story.” He signed and Allison sighed before there was a knock at the door. Esther looked at her husband in concern, who sighed in annoyance.

“I had a run-in with Mr. and Mrs. Pendle,” He said. “They must’ve just realized what I told them…” Isaac snickered as Esther got to her feet.

“I’ll talk to them.” She said and headed to the door. Unsurprisingly, it was Mr. Pendle, storming past Esther into the living room as his wife yelled at him in annoyance.

“You son of a-”

“HAROLD!” Mrs. Pendle exclaimed before looking at Esther. “My God I am so sorry! Please, let me-”

“My God- _ALAN!?_ ” Esther saw Mrs. Pendle’s face pale as the older woman looked at her in heartbreak and confusion.

“A-Alan’s dead…” She managed out, uncharacteristically soft and timid. “Those members of the search party...they’re dead…W-Why is he saying his name?” Esther smiled softly and put her hand on the elder woman’s shoulder, knowing how shocking this new bombshell was going to be.

“Mrs. Pendle...the search party survived...Alan...is alive.”

.

* * *

.

“Hey Dee…” Joshua said softly as they two sat down for their lunch. “Um...I was thinking that we should probably talk about...the future…” Cordelia looked at him in surprise.

“W-What, really?!” Joshua chuckled nervously, trying to hide his blush.

“I know, weird timing, but I gotta admit...the whole stuff with the studio, it’s a lot of crazy stuff coming out of nowhere, and I just kinda…” He chuckled softly. “I just want to have a plan, ya know? I wanna have a plan so we can outstep Nance and everybody else with their idea of how our relationship goes down.” Cordelia chuckled softly.

“Roy and Chris are still an option for the ‘need to have a wedding’.” Joshua chuckled.

“I don’t know about Roy, but nobody’s gonna be able to wrangle Chris into those wedding dresses to try on.” Cordelia snorted as Joshua smiled softly.

“I suppose you’re right!” She laughed as a faint blush rose on her cheeks as she thought about the idea of having a family with Joshua. “Would you want to have a family?” Joshua blushed, shrugging slightly.

“Yea...but I wouldn’t want to rush you or make things uncomfortable or weird…”

“Joshy, you couldn’t make things weird,” She giggled. “I worked for Joey Freaking Drew! Weird was that place’s normal!” Joshua laughed as he leaned his head on hers.

“Yeah, you’re right…”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does contain homophobia and mentions of electroshock therapy. This gets real dark

Joey was tired. Just, like, in general. A lot had been happening lately and his emotional reserves were pretty much tapped out at this point. He did not have the energy to deal with the Pendle parents. But here they were, in the living room, yelling and being very loud. He’d never met them, of course, nor had Allison or Alan talked much about them. What they had let slip hinted that their relationship with their parents wasn’t good. Which meant this would probably get messy. Their yelling had additionally roused Ruby and Squish, both of whom were looking around blearily.

“Why don’t you two go sleep upstairs?” He suggested gently. “I think the grownups are about to argue.” Squish whimpered quietly, squeezing Joey’s arm protectively.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Ruby assured Squish. “We gotta let them talk.” Squish hesitated again, looking back at Joey.

“I’ll go with you both.” Lewis volunteered. He looked back at Helen as if asking her to come with him. Her lips twisted, her gaze darting from Lewis to her parents. Gently, Lewis took her hand. Helen allowed herself to be lifted from the couch, gesturing to Ruby and Squish to follow. And they did, getting off of Joey and following the couple up the stairs. Joey settled back down in his chair, waiting for whatever shitshow would follow. Probably something about how they were disappointed in their children’s decision or some shit like that. They seemed like that sort.

“Alan…” Mrs. Pendle reached toward her son with a shaking hand. Both Alan and Helen were frozen on the couch. Alan likely hadn’t rehearsed a response toward his parents. He hadn’t seen them since he’d gotten trapped in the studio, after all.

“I can’t believe it.” Mrs. Pendle cupped Alan’s face in her hands. “It’s really you. You’re really here.” Her voice shook as her fingers grazed across his skin.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were alive?” Mr. Pendle demanded. Alan didn’t say anything, hunching his shoulders and avoiding his parents’ gaze.

“It’s a gift from God, Harold.” Mrs. Pendle turned back to look at her husband. Tears streamed down her face.

“Our son has been returned to us.” She continued, stumbling to her feet and taking her husband’s hands in her. “It’s a miracle from God!”

It was a touching scene, although Esther knew how precarious the situation was. She knew of the Pendle parents’ views on same-sex attraction and how such views were likely to set Joey off. He didn’t like bullies, he always said. The bullies on the schoolyard might have had something to do with that. She didn’t want him to regress. They’d made so much progress. People like the Pendles brought out the worst in Joey. He got mean, vindictive, taking out all his repressed anger and hatred on them because he thought they deserved it.

“This is a second chance for you, Alan!” Mrs. Pendle turned quickly back to him, taking Alan’s hand in hers. “You can repent! Your soul can be saved! God has given you a chance to be the best you can be!”

“Repent for what?” Joey asked. Esther tensed. She could see the storm brewing. The narrowing of his eyes, the prickle in his voice.

“Rachel, go upstairs.” She said.

“What? Why?” Rachel frowned. “I didn’t even get to see if the soup turned out right.”

“Please.” Esther’s eyes darted down to her, her gaze pleading. Rachel’s frown abruptly dropped. She glanced between her mother and the others in the room. Then she turned and ran up the stairs.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let him keep talking to them?” Robert whispered. He was already beginning to wring his hands.

“If…If it gets out of hand, I’ll step in.” Esther whispered back. She didn’t **like** the Pendles. They were incredibly irritating with their insistence that their way of living was the _right_ way. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t want her brother to take them down a peg. But then again…They were seeing the son they thought was dead for the first time in literal years. She wanted to let them be happy.

“Repent for what?” Joey repeated, a distinct edge to his words. “What has he done that he needs to repent for?”

“I hardly think that’s any of your business.” Mr. Pendle glared at him. Joey smiled. It was the smile that didn’t reach his eyes. The smile of the monster who’d plunged Joey Drew Studios into Hell.

“As the resident sinner here, I think I’m pretty well versed in what crimes require repentance.” He got up from the chair in one fluid movement, slipping back into his old persona as easily as if he were putting on a coat.

“They think I’m going to Hell because I’m gay,” Alan said. “I mean, there are other things. But that’s one of them.” His eyes were becoming unfocused again as the cold hit him once more. He was still sick and this had been a lot. Both the realization that Joey was Chris’ father and his parents just randomly showing up. Joey looked at Alan, then slowly turned to face the Pendles. His smile was unnaturally wide, his eyes gleaming with something Esther wished she didn’t recognize.

“Oh really?” He tilted his head to the side. “Now that’s **_interesting_**.”

“Interesting how?” Mrs. Pendle frowned at the change in Joey’s attitude. It was a bit jarring to see the tired-looking man who’d been slumped in the armchair suddenly spring up and begin acting so…unnatural. He reminded her of that horrid demon his studio produced.

“Oh gee, I don’t know.” Joey folded his arms behind his back, gliding closer. His movements were too smooth, too fluid. Human bodies didn’t move like that. “I just thought the Bible was all about love and acceptance. This seems awful mean.” He batted his eyelashes sweetly, the condescension plain even under that innocent façade. 

“This is what’s best for him.” Mrs. Pendle’s brow furrowed. “He won’t get into Heaven if he continues on this way. We love him.” She took a step back, her husband putting a protective arm around her.

“You love him. Of course of course.” Joey snorted derisively. “But only if he fits the mold you want him to. Only if he forgoes his evil ways and returns to God because _clearly,_ he doesn’t know what’s good for him.” He put a hand to his forehead, leaning back in a dramatic swoon. His face curled in a sneer. “If you really loved him, you wouldn’t be insisting he’s going to Hell for liking men.”

“Joey.” There was a warning in Esther’s voice, but he continued.

“I mean, I already know I’m going to Hell, but it’s because I murdered a bunch of people and trapped their souls in a Hell of my own making. Not because I’m gay. That.” He held up a finger. “Was a choice. Being gay?” He pointed to himself and Alan. “That is not a choice. I tried to choose to be straight. I did. I dated woman after woman, trying to convince myself that I’d eventually feel something for them. But I never did.”

“Our son isn’t a heathen like you!” Mr. Pendle snapped. “His soul can be saved.”

“Who says it needs saving? You?” Joey’s smile was poisonous. “Far as I know, he’s a perfectly upstanding young man. If you ask me, you two are the ones who need saving.” He drew closer again, eyes wild and manic. “What would make you two happy, hm? Probably if you sent him away and he came back completely obedient, right? Why don’t you send him to a looney bin? They’ll zap the gay right out of him! Maybe he’ll be a vegetable for the rest of his life, but you two don’t care, right? Just as long as you two get your perfect obedient little dress-up doll, you’re fine!”

“Joey!” Esther tried to grab at his arm. But Joey was on a roll. He wasn’t going to stop now.

“You really think you’re in the right here?” He asked. “You really think you’re good people? None of your children want anything to do with you. Allison ran away. She cut all contact with you. Helen not only didn’t invite you to her wedding, but she also wanted you gone when you showed up. Alan would rather you think he was dead than talk to you again. Face it. You’re monsters. And the very worst kind too. The kind who thinks they’re justified.” He smiled wide. “You’re just like me.”

“Joey, that’s enough.” Esther yanked him back by the shoulder.

“I’m not done.” He said, still smiling maniacally.

“You’re done.” Esther’s voice left no room for argument. She dragged him away. He offered no resistance, staring at the Pendles as he was carried off. Both Pendles were horrified, staring at the space where Joey had previously been.

“Oh dear.” Robert sighed. “I’m very sorry about that. He went too far. However…” He paused, a strangely serious look entering his eyes. “I do believe he made a few good points.” He walked around the couch to stand between the Pendles and Alan.

“You should not be telling your son he’s going to Hell for something he cannot change.” Robert didn’t often look serious. His default state was smiling kindly. His short stature and stocky body, as well as his grey hair and developing wrinkles, lent him the nature of a kindly grandfather or uncle. Years of bending over books had left him with a bit of a stoop, which only added to his non-threatening nature. Now, he stood completely straight, arms folded behind his back. His normally warm and kind brown eyes were steely and disapproving. He actually looked rather intimidating watching the Pendles over the top of his glasses.

“This is not a matter you should be interfering in.” Mr. Pendle stared down at him, although his voice wavered a bit. “This is our family’s business.”

“But it’s not. Not really.” Robert replied coolly. “Your views don’t just extend to your son. They extend to everyone you encounter. They extend to Chris, to Roy, to **my** family. This isn’t just about Alan, this is about the disrespect you show to nearly everyone you encounter.”

“You’re not going to change their minds.” Alan’s voice was defeated. He slouched back on the couch, letting his head loll to the side. “They’re never going to listen. You shouldn’t bother.”

“Go back to sleep.” Robert’s expression softened as he glanced briefly back at Alan. “It’s been a long day and you need your rest.” When he turned back to the Pendles, he was solemn once more. “I respect that your views are different than mine. But when you begin trying to force your views onto others, that’s when we have a problem.”

“We’re not trying to force our views on anyone.” Mrs. Pendle insisted. “We’re just trying to help.”

“Whether you intend to or not, you are indeed forcing your views on those you encounter,” Robert said. “Not to mention, your children are adults. All of them. They are entitled to make their own decisions and chart the courses of their lives. You need to stop acting as though they’re incapable of figuring out what’s best for them. Just because you brought them into the world does not entitle you to control their lives.” Having said all this, he let out a long sigh, deflating a bit.

“I’m going to go check on Esther.” He turned and began to head to where Esther had disappeared with Joey. “Feel free to talk amongst yourselves. If I hear yelling, I will be coming back and kicking you out.” Then he left.

.

“What the fuck was that?!” Esther demanded, shoving Joey into the backyard.

“What do you mean?” Joey asked. The old persona was fading again, but the gleeful smile remained. His eyes were alight with malicious delight.

“You know exactly what I mean.” She snarled. “That was uncalled for. You went too far.”

“They deserved it!” Joey snapped back. “They think their view is the only one that matters and that anyone who isn’t like them shouldn’t exist!”

“You think **_that’s_** going to change their mind?!” Esther ran a hand through her gray-streaked hair.

“It might at least scare some sense into them!”

Esther groaned. She felt like ripping her hair out. She’d forgotten how stubborn he could be. How vindictive and cruel and childish.

“Do you ever think?!” She asked, throwing her hands up in the air. “Do you ever consider the consequences of your actions? Even for a second?!” Joey just made a face at her, leaning against a tree.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Robert poked his head out the back door.

“Just a bunch of yelling.” Joey sneered.

“Then I’m not.” Robert walked outside, closing the door behind him. “I just wanted to tell you I’ve given the Pendles a bit of a lecture. No guarantee they’ll listen, but I’ve given them a scolding.”

“Have they found out yet that Joey’s the reason their son was missing all these years?” Esther pinched the bridge of her nose, willing her oncoming headache to go away.

“Not yet. I expect that will come up soon, though.” Robert put an arm around her, pulling her close and rubbing circles on her back.

“Why does it matter if they know?” Joey rolled his eyes. “They were going to hate me no matter what because I don’t fit their little mold.”

“You sound like a child.” Esther glared at him. He didn’t think anything through, did he? Who knew what the Pendles would do when they found out? Joey had pretty much ruined his first impression with that little stunt and she doubted their feelings about him would improve with the revelation that he’d trapped their son in the studio for years. They could raise a lynch mob, call the police. Her mind raced with terrible possibilities.

“You went too far, Joey,” Robert said. Joey squirmed a bit under his disapproving gaze. He knew they were right, but he wasn’t about to admit it. People like the Pendles just pushed his buttons. They were grown-up versions of his schoolyard bullies in his mind. Joey remembered those who had wronged him. He always remembered. They got to walk away from it, but he didn’t.

.

Those upstairs had mostly managed to avoid hearing Joey’s little tirade, but Rachel had stayed at the top of the stairs. She was frozen, an awful feeling in the pit of her stomach. She’d already kind of known the Pendles weren’t great people, but to say something like that to them…Her grip on her skirt tightened. Maybe if she went into her room and closed her eyes it would all be a bad dream. She turned slowly and headed to her bedroom. It would be fine, she kept telling herself. It would be fine.


	10. Chapter 10

...

“Squishy, it’s ok…” Ruby said gently, the large ink demon pacing back and forth in the room upstairs. “Uncle Joey’s not gonna get hurt,” Squish looked at the toddler in concern. “They’re not like that.” Lewis smiled gently.

“Yeah, their bark is a lot worse than their bite,” Lewis explained. “If anything, they’ll do the quiet arguing and then leave.” Helen sighed softly, nodding.

“Sides, there’s witnesses,” Ruby yawned rather adorably. “They’re not gonna do anything that’ll ruin their repu-repet-imagey-thing.”

“Besides storming into the house uninvited and saying rude things.” Helen retorted and the toddler shrugged.

“Nana says that there’s been worse things they’ve done. Especially Mrs. Pendle.” Ruby yawned, stretching.

“I’m sure Ms. Moon has seen some things,” Lewis admitted gently and Ruby nodded.

“Uh-huh! Especially when it’s the end of the day and the bar closes and everybody who was drinking goes and gets food.” Ruby looked a little sheepish and the adults raised their eyebrows. “W-Well, Nana told me about it once when we were walking back to the diner, after Mrs. Pendle was trying to set my daddy up on a date with a lady and she was being kinda mean…” She said before looking at the three. “You promise not to tell?” Squish nodded and childishly zipped her lips, earning a chuckle from the adults.

“We won’t tell,” Lewis promised and Ruby took a deep breath.

.

* * *

.

_“Hmm?” Hye looked up as she was finishing up with cleaning the counter about an hour before the diner closed, around 12 or so in the morning, and witnessed two men in disheveled business suits, one of them blushing and getting rather friendly with the other man, who was looking more concerned about getting the man into the building. “Put him in the booth.” The second man, Hye recognized him as one of the shop owners in town, looked up in surprise before nodding, though the first man whined. Hye walked towards the men and crossed her arms. “Last call isn’t for another 3 hours down at Jones’s-”She paused as she looked at the clingiler man, recognizing him. “Well, I can see why you two left.”_

_“He can’t head home like this…” The man said sheepishly. “I’m sorry Moon, but I don’t want to risk seeing Mrs. Pendle...you know how she is about...individuals like myself.” Hye smiled gently._

_“I completely understand.”_

_“I don’t know how he’ll explain this to her...I mean, it was a guy’s birthday at the club and everybody was drinking…but that’s not really an excuse...” Hye shrugged absently as the man started to nod off._

_“Not our battle to face.” Hye said simply, knowing exactly what would happen if he was discovered to have been acting like this in front of his very old fashioned wife. “We’ll just make sure he’s comfortable for when that hangover hits him.”_

.

* * *

.

“I remember why I did not like that man.” Mrs. Pendle said, forcefully adjusting her jacket before looking at her son, her face softening as she felt Alan’s head. “You’re warm and while we should talk...you clearly aren’t well.” She looked at Allison who was on edge but obviously trying to hide it. “When you get a chance, darling, can you see if Christopher can pick him up? I know that Christopher has an extra bed that Alan used to use, and I can never get the phone to work,” She chuckled before turning to find Esther or Robert. Harold watched his wife walk off, expression difficult to read, before coming over and patting his son on the shoulder and seeming to whisper something to him, which while Allison couldn’t hear what, it was certainly something surprising as Alan stared at his father in confusion as the older man followed after his wife.

“What did he say?” Allison asked curiously.

“He...he apologized…” Alan managed out slowly before shaking his head and laid back. “Ugh, I better get some sleep…”

“Good idea.” Tom signed before turning to Allison. “Let’s go talk to Ruby and check on Squish.” Allison nodded firmly and after waiting to make sure her brother was asleep before following Tom upstairs. 

When the two went into the room, they found Helen looking very perturbed and Lewis rubbing the back of his head. Squish saw Tom and Allison and quickly scurried over to them.

“Hey Squish, how are you doing?” Allison asked gently and Squish beamed as Tom walked over to the bed and sat next to Ruby. “That’s good to hear…”

“Ruby,” Tom signed. “Can you tell us about Joey?”

“What about?” Tom seemed to chuckle as Lewis smiled softly.

“I think he is just as surprised as we are about Joey being your grandfather,” Lewis explained gently, Tom nodding in agreement.

“Oooh, yeah it is kinda surprising cause Uncle Joey doesn’t really look like a grandpa, but Uncle Henry says that’s cause of the studio.” She admitted before nodded firmly. “Grandma says that when she went to the big kid school, people only wanted her to get a husband like the other ladies at the school and one day she met Uncle Joey and they agreed to be dating so they wouldn’t be bothered by people, cause Uncle Joey was getting bothered about him not having a lady-friend. And then they broke up,” Allison furrowed her brows, obviously trying to find memories that weren’t there. “It was waaaaay before the studio Miss Allison, and Grandma says that she got lucky cause she knew Grandpa and they fell in love and got married and then my Daddy was born!” 

“Huh…” Lewis said slowly. “That does make sense…I think,” He looked between Allison and Tom. “Just one bombshell after another huh?” Helen laughed bitterly.

“Please don’t joke like that Lewis,” Helen said. “That’s just asking for something else happen…” Ruby giggled as Squish signed and Allison smiled.

“I’m not sure how that could work, Squish, but ice cream from the sky would certainly be surprising.”

.

* * *

.

_“Are you going to blackmail me?” Harold asked quietly, sitting at the counter, now sober and staring at the black coffee in his hands. Hye looked at the man, studying him before shrugging._

_“Don’t see why I should. Obviously you have the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ way of teaching.” Harold glared at the Korean woman before he sighed sadly._

_“The world is not kind to people like m-that...” He gripped the cup tightly, knuckles turning white. “If you’re lucky, they kill you quickly with a bullet to the head or an ‘accidental slip’ while you're in the hospital, other times you’re forced to know that everyone around you knows that you’re a freak and they won’t do anything until you have to stop the pain your-”_

_“Enough.” Hye said firmly, recognizing the signs of a mental breakdown, and she firmly pushed his hands down. “You are going to give yourself a nervous breakdown.” Harold looked at her in disbelief, as if she shouldn’t be bothering with him. “You are a man who I do not understand, especially with this new information and with how you’ve treated Christopher and your own son,” She said firmly as Harold looked at the cup in shame. “I however only want one thing from you.” Harold paled slightly. “I want you to stop harassing Christopher when he returns from Vietnam. The man has already been through hell and back, and will no doubt is going through it again, so please, let him be.” Harold opened his mouth. “I don’t ask for you to handle your wife, I only ask that you let him live his life however he choses it.” Harold nodded slowly and Hye turned to finish up some minor chores before opening. “Oh, and don’t worry, I called your wife and told her you were helping a friend home after he had drunk too much and you wouldn’t want to leave him in a vulnerable state.” Harold stared at the woman in shock._

_“W-Wh-” Hye turned to face the man and winked mischievously._

_“Consider that as a thank you for not puking all over my diner.”_

.

* * *

.

“Oh…” Susie said quietly as she walked out into the living room area of the place the Campbells were staying, spotting Ryan. “Ryan….” 

“Ma and Pa are heading over to pick up the twins from the Klein’s house so we can have dinner.” Ryan said simply, not looking away from folding the laundry as Susie nodded slowly. “Ron’s picking up some last minute groceries and whatever.”

“Oh….” There was an awkward silence for what seemed like forever before Susie finally spoke. “Um...Lewis told me you took over Dad’s business, congratulations?” Ryan shrugged.

“It pays the bills.” He said simply, clearly trying to keep the conversations simple. Susie, despite feeling self loathing, raised an eyebrow at her brother.

“I can see nothing’s changed with you; you could become president and you’d still be so deadpan about it.” Ryan gave her a deadpan glare

“You are full of it Susan.” He said simply and Susie slowly made her way to her brother a playful smirk tugging on her lips.

“So no girl you’ve been sweet on? Nobody caught your eye yet~” She teased.

“No.” She pursed her lips a smirk tugged at her lips.

“That’s surprising...I do recall a few coworkers and old classmates of mine-” A t-shirt was thrown at her face, her brother’s face red.

“I-If you’re out here, then help me fold the laundry and stop t-talking nonsense!” He stammered out and Susie couldn’t help but giggle at how her brother was still the same as she remembered him.

“Of course Ryan, I’ll help…” She came over and the two quietly folded laundry and Susie couldn’t help but mull over the fact that at least so far, her family was there for her.

.

* * *

.

“Grandma!” Betty laughed as she got a pair of hugs from the twins as Esther opened the door, helping to escort the Pendles out of the house. Both husbands bristled at the sight of each other, though thankfully the small children unintentionally staved off the yelling match (and potentially that also Robert standing there as well).

“Why hello you two! How are you? Did you behave for Mrs. Klein?” The twins nodded.

“Mr. Joey told us a scary story…” Matthias said. “But it’s not true cause Mrs. Klein said it happened differently and it’s ok.” 

“He did what now?” Esther chuckled gently as there was an embarrassed groan from Joey.

“He told them a version of a Brothers Grimm story he had heard…” Betty nodded slowly as Mrs. Pendle shook her head.

“At least it had nothing to do with that dancing demon.” She muttered under her breath before shaking. “Well, we best get going. Have a good day Mrs. Klein.” The Pendles quickly left the house and James looked at the Kleins.

“Do I want to know why they were here?” Esther sighed.

“No. You really don’t….”James nodded.

“Figured. Hope Joey knocked them down a peg at least.” Betty looked at her husband as the twins looked at him as Esther wiped her face as she heard the snort of her brother, who she knew was going to milk that.

“Grandpa!”

“Whaaat?” James asked, placing his hands on his hips. “They’re not exactly high on my respect list kiddos. You’re not supposed to be all high and mighty and thinking you’re perfect cause nobody’s perfect.” 

“So that gives you an excuse to want someone else to insult them?” Betty asked sternly and James huffed dramatically, the twins stifling their giggles, knowing full well what their grandfather was going to do.

“Well, apparently you don’t want me to drop kick Harold and since orange isn’t my color.” Betty’s face went a shade of red as she stood up and pulled on her husband’s ear, who was laughing. 

“James! Do not joke like that!” James leaned into the pull before sneaking a kiss on his wife’s cheek, earning chuckles from the other two adults.

“Grandpa! You’re being silly!” Mary laughed and James smiled with a wink.

“Well, the best people are, kiddo!” Both Robert and Esther smiled gently, as the former pulled his wife into a side hug, thankful for this small moment of calm before the chaos returned in relation to the studio.


	11. Chapter 11

Once the attention was off of them, Lewis took Helen into another room.

“What do you want to do about this?” He asked, closing the door.

“This?” Helen asked, laughing. She was only laughing because she was worried she’d start crying if she didn’t.

“The thing with your father,” Lewis said. “What do you want to do about it?”

“Ah.” Helen’s face fell. Part of her had hoped she had imagined it.

“I…I don’t know.” She admitted. Did it change things? It certainly didn’t make any of the awful things he’d done any better. 

“I want to ask him about it,” she said. “But…Well, you heard what Ruby said. Hye asked her not to tell anyone.” This wasn’t her secret to tell. It was clearly something that both Hye and her father wanted to keep under wraps. But she needed to know if it was true. If it was, then why had he been treating Alan so poorly? Why had he gone along with her mother’s horrid plans for all these years? Why had he kept himself in that constant state of misery? She didn’t imagine he was **happy** living like this.

“That’s pretty understandable.” Lewis agreed.

“It’s just all…so much.” Helen sighed heavily.

“I know.” Lewis smiled softly, taking her hands in his. “But I’m here for you. I want you to know that. No matter what happens.” Helen turned to look at him and he gave her a gentle smile. She stared at him for a moment before smiling back.

“Thank you.” She hugged him. She was happy she’d found Lewis. She couldn’t think of anyone better to have married.

“I need to talk to my father.” She said when she pulled away. “I need to know if it’s true.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Lewis asked.

“Better not.” Helen smiled apologetically. “It’ll be easier if it’s me and him.” Her parents had made their feelings toward Lewis perfectly clear.

“Fair enough.” Lewis gently pressed a kiss to her lips. “Good luck. I’ll hold down the fort here.”

“Thank you.” Helen returned the kiss before slipping out of the room. Allison gave her a questioning look as she noticed her sister heading for the front door, but she didn’t say anything. She trusted Helen knew what she was doing. For now, she’d just watch over Alan.

When Lewis returned to the living room, everyone was gathered there. There was still some tension in the air on the part of the adults, although the children seemed perfectly unbothered by everything. He was rather surprised to see his parents there as well, until he remembered that his niece and nephew were there. Ah yes, how could he forget Joey’s disastrous fairytale? Joey was currently sitting in a corner, pouting while Ruby and Squish tried to cheer him up. Obviously, the Pendles had left him in a rather foul mood.

“Lewis! There you are! I was wondering where you’d disappeared off to.” His attention was drawn back to the present by his mother’s voice.

“Where’s Helen?” James asked.

“She went to go talk with her father,” Lewis explained, crossing the room to stand with his parents. “Ruby told us something interesting she learned from Hye.” Both James and Betty raised an eyebrow, but they said nothing. If Lewis wasn’t going to tell them, they weren’t going to push it. From his tone of voice, it certainly sounded like something that was meant to be kept secret.

Betty was more than happy to change the subject, starting to talk with Robert about new recipes they’d both learned.

“Are they gone?” Esther felt a tug at her shirt. Looking down, she found Rachel standing there. What immediately worried her was how withdrawn and upset Rachel seemed.

“Rachel, what’s wrong?” Esther leaned down, wiping away the tears forming in her daughter’s eyes. Rachel hesitated, clearly weighing the pros and cons of lying and saying she was fine.

“The things Uncle Joey said…They were awful.” She finally said.

“Did he scare you?”

Rachel nodded, sniffling loudly. At this sound, Joey’s gaze flicked over to her, guilt settling on his face. He’d told himself the Pendles deserved it for being so awful. He’d told himself that he’d just been telling the truth. But seeing Rachel so upset…He still had a long way to go, didn’t he? He sighed heavily.

.

It felt good to be home, Susie decided. She was starting to realize she’d missed it. She’d missed her family. She’d missed the support, the bickering she did with her brothers. The sense of belonging she’d never been able to find anywhere else. Things were still tense between her and Ryan, though. She could understand that. As the oldest of them, he’d always felt responsible for taking care of them when their parents couldn’t. She knew she’d frustrated him with her tendency toward spoiled self-centeredness. He had been the one to tell her she needed to stop being so selfish all the time. She’d…said some terrible things to him before she’d left home.

“Where should I put these?” She asked, holding up the clothes she’d finished folding.

“On the bed,” Ryan said, gesturing toward the bed. Susie got up and placed the folded clothes on the sheets. Ryan remained on the floor, continuing to fold other clothes. She stayed standing, watching him. 

“I…I’m sorry.” She said.

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry. For all the awful things I said to you and everyone else. I was…I was a brat.” And she’d continued to be a brat until fairly recently.

“Apology accepted,” Ryan replied without missing a beat. Susie was thrown for a loop by this. She’d expected more resistance, like what she’d encountered with her father. She’d done awful things. Why wasn’t he angry?

“That’s…That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“You aren’t…You won’t yell at me?”

“Not much point in doing that.” Ryan shrugged.

“Oh.” Susie stood there for a moment or two longer before sitting down beside him again to continue folding laundry.

“Things aren’t just immediately going to go back to normal,” Ryan said after a few more minutes of silence. “We both know that. But I appreciate that you’re at least trying.”

“Thanks.” Susie smiled slightly. Ryan nodded in the way she knew meant ‘no problem’. They returned to quietly working together.


	12. Chapter 12

….

_“Who’s this Father?” Harold looked at the picture, paling slightly as his youngest held up the picture._

_“W-Where did you find that Helen?” The young girl pointed to a box in the corner where he and his wife had been going through and placing things away. “O-Oh...heh, I suppose we hadn’t finished all the photos…” He looked at the photo and smiled softly._

_“I know this is you!” Helen beamed brightly, pointing to the taller man. “Cause he wears ties like you!” Harold couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked from the photo to his daughter._

_“I do like to wear ties…”_

_“So who’s that guy?” Helen pointed to the man that was next to Harold, missing her father’s face fall as his attention when back to the photo._

_“He...was an old friend of mine.” Harold said gently. “He was a very close friend of mine...but he sadly passed away soon after this photo was taken...” Helen’s face fell as she hugged her father, who was keeping himself from trembling as Allison headed down the stairs and to the front door._

_“I’m heading to the library!” She called out and Harold made a face._

_“You have a jacket?”_

_“Y-Yes Father!”_

_“Make sure you come home before dinner.”_

_“Yes sir.” The door closed and Harold sighed; Allison seemed to be spending quite a bit at the library and frankly he was surprised that his wife kept buying that excuse. Perhaps one of these days he’d follow after her and make sure she was safe. Last thing he wanted was for her to go through the same hell-_

_“Father?” Harold blinked and looked back at his youngest, who was staring up at him, concerned._

_“It’s nothing Helen...I’m fine...come on, let’s go make sure that Alan is actually doing his homework and not ‘accidently’ misplacing it.” Helen giggled brightly and started to run off towards her brother’s room, leaving Harold alone with the photo. He looked at it and sighed sadly. He put it in his pocket, making a mental note to burn the photo when no one was watching. He stared at the photo for a long time before he heard his daughter run up the stairs. He smiled softly before burying his turmoil and going after her._

.

* * *

.

“I don’t fucking care, Mrs. Pendle.” Helen managed to catch up to her parents outside of Moon’s diner, talking to Chris’s mother. “So long as my son and my granddaughter are happy, I don’t care who he shares a bed with.” Mrs. Pendle frowned.

“But it-”

“It’s not appropriate for a man to raise a child without a feminine touch, you’ve mentioned this since I was fucking pregnant with Chris.” She said sarcastically before seeing Helen. “Oh, Helen, I thought you and Lewis were getting ready for the honeymoon.” Helen smiled softly as her parents looked at her.

“Some things came up…” She explained gently before looking at her father. “Father, please may I speak with your privately?” Harold looked confused as Chris opened the door to the diner, followed by Roy.

“Didn’t you guys leave?” Chris grumbled and Mrs. Pendle crossed her arms.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” She sighed, shaking her head. 

“You better not have not harassed my son.” Mrs. Charles warned and Chris shrugged.

“She thought that Allison chick was my girlfriend.” He said. “She didn’t get to finish the whole spiel cause of Roy swooping in.” Roy blushed and Mrs. Pendle frowned.

“Susanna, you can’t just be ok with your son being in a homosexual relationship!” Mrs. Pendle argued. “People are going to talk!” Helen looked at her father, trying to read his reaction as Susanna rolled her eyes.

“That didn’t seem to stop you and the other ladies when Joey and I broke up.”

“You two were so cute together though, and frankly it was a tad strange you two broke up and got together with Peter so quickly.”

“Joey wasn’t happy.” Susanna said, not missing a beat. “I wasn’t going to force him to stay with me because we were cute. I respected him too much for that.” She placed her hands on her hips, obviously wanting to drag Mrs. Pendle, but her son stepped in between the two.

“Ok, let’s not have any fights, cause frankly I ain’t explaining that to Helen or any of the Allisons why you are at the precinct.” Mrs. Pendle looked perplexed.

“ _What_.” Harold wiped his face, stifling a groan.

“I tried to tell you-” He muttered under his breath. “For some unexplained reason, there’s _two_ of our daughter.” Mrs. Pendle looked at her husband in surprise before her face contorted in what might have been irritation, frustration, or determination.

“Well then.” She adjusted her jacket. “I know _exactly_ who I need to talk to then.” Harold frowned.

“Honey…” Mrs. Pendle stormed off and instead of chasing after his wife, Harold sighed tiredly and slunked into the diner. 

“Roy, call the parlour and give them a heads up about Mrs. Pendle, I’ll see if I can slow her down.” Chris said, pausing to peck his mother on the cheek before hurrying after the other woman. Roy sighed in annoyance as Helen sighed and chased after her mother and Chris.

Talking to her father would have to wait.


	13. Chapter 13

...  
“You are not drinking anything.” Roy walked into the diner, raising an eyebrow as he saw Mr. Pendle arguing with Hye, the man looking uncharacteristically defeated. “I am not bailing you out because you have no filter when you’re drunk.” Hye sighed before turning to Roy. “Hmm? Roy?”

“I need to use the phone.” He explained. “Got to give Dave a heads up.” Hye nodded and gestured to the phone.

“At least Wally and that Flynn fella are there too.” Hye mused simply before turning back to Mr. Pendle. “And you’re letting them handle your wife on their own.” Mr. Pendle didn’t say anything, only staring at the counter. Roy looked moderately confused as the diner owner continued. “You need to talk to a therapist Harold. I’m not a professional and frankly it’s going to kill you if you keep pretending there’s nothing wrong.” Roy stared at the two as the conversation became more hushed before he hurried to the phone; he had a job to do.

.

* * *

.

“Alright, we should be finishing up,” Henry said simply, stretching as he closed the file folder. “Joey should be here soon to drop Ruby off.” Murray looked at him and smiled.

“She spending the night?” Henry chuckled.

“Yeah, Chris has a night shift at the parlour and Bendy loves the sleep overs,” Henry explained smiling softly. “That and somehow she manages to convince the toons that bathtime and bedtime are good ideas,” Murray laughed.

“Yeah, she’s got a way with the toons...still boggles my mind that she and Joey are related…” He trailed off nervously and Henry raised an eyebrow. 

“It does?” Murray looked at Henry in surprise, who immediately held up his hands. “I mean, yeah it’s surprising that _Joey_ had a kid, but now that I think about it, there’s some little moments of similarity…” Henry smiled softly. “Joey’s a big kid sometimes, you know,” Murray snorted.

“I suppose that’s putting it nicely.” Henry gave Murray a look and the younger man chuckled sheepishly. “I’m not wrong.”

“I suppose so,” Henry said coyly before sighing playfully. “But hopefully Joey understands he’s not alone...so he doesn’t have to resort to something like this again…” Murray was silent for a moment before nodding.

“I think the fear of his sister will keep him on the straight and narrow.” Henry laughed.

“You’ve got a point there! Come on, let’s get this put up before they get here,”

.

* * *

.

“I’m telling ya, I’m going to be great at this!” Wally beamed excitedly as Allison looked over his design.

“Is it supposed to be a squirrel?” 

“It’s a lion, Allison!” Wally exclaimed, face red as Shawn put the phone down, having been at the lobby desk, helping out Agnes.

“Hey, Allison, you better hide,” Shawn said as Allison looked up in surprise. “Apparently your mother’s making a beeline to the tattoo studio…” Allison paled.

“But D-Dave is with a client…” She barely managed out and Wally stood up.

“You head in the back, and hang out there, me, Agnes, and Shawn got this.” Wally said firmly, obviously surprising both Allison and Shawn. “You ain’t gotta worry about her. She’ll be outta here in no time!” Allison looked at her former coworkers and saw the determination in their eyes. She smiled softly before nodding firmly.

“Thank you.” Wally beamed goofily as Allison turned to head to the back.

“Not a problem Allison! We got this!”


	14. Chapter 14

Wally was good with people. People tended to like him. He made them smile. Sure, he could be irritating, but it was hard not to like the goofy janitor. He was so genuinely sweet and compassionate. He was certain he would be able to deal with Mrs. Pendle. His positivity tended to throw people off guard when they were expecting anger. It was the subversion of expectations that diffused the tension. And if all else failed, he could always play the dim-witted fool to buy enough time for her to get frustrated and leave. If there was one thing Wally was good at, it was playing dumb.

So, when Mrs. Pendle came storming in, Chris and Helen at her heels, he met her with a smile.

“Mother, please!” Helen’s voice came from outside as frantic footsteps approached the parlor doors. Shawn braced for a fight, while Wally took a deep breath, readying himself to be as sweet and charming as possible. When the door opened, revealing an irate Mrs. Pendle, he smiled wide.

“Hey there!” He said brightly. “How can I help you?”

Sure enough, Mrs. Pendle was taken aback at being met with a smile rather than yelling. She stopped in the doorway, mouth hanging open mid-yell. Agnes stayed behind the counter, ready to call the police if things went south. She and Chris exchanged a glance, both nodding in silent understanding.

“Why’re you giving her the hospitality spiel? We don’t work here.” Shawn punched his arm lightly.

“Yeah, but everyone else is busy. Thought I might as well be hospitable.” Wally shrugged, turning back to Mrs. Pendle with a bigger grin. “Anyway, you need something?”

Mrs. Pendle shook her head, regaining her composure. “I want to see my daughter.”

“Which daughter?” Wally asked. “That daughter?” He pointed to Helen, who shook her head.

“Allison.” Mrs. Pendle narrowed her eyes. “I know she’s here. I need to speak to her. I need to know what sort of witchcraft Drew performed on her.”

“You might have some trouble with that.” Wally smiled apologetically. “I mean, he did a lot of stuff to all of us. I don’t think **he** even knows what all of it was.” Besides, most of them had tried to erase the memories of their torment from their minds. Even if they did know what had happened, they didn’t want to remember it.

“ **We** sure as Hell don’t.” Shawn snorted.

“I need to see her.” Mrs. Pendle’s voice turned pleading. “Please. I need to know she’s alright.”

“I’m sure she’s fine.” Helen put a hand on her mother’s arm, trying gently to pull her away. “You’re scaring the customers. Let’s just go back to the diner and talk, alright?” Her mother pulled away, though, still intent on seeing Allison.

“She’s fine,” Shawn replied coolly. “She’d probably be better if you stopped meddling, though.” Wally discretely elbowed him in the ribs.

“We’re supposed to be diffusing the tension, not creating it.” He hissed.

“You’re not wrong.” Chris agreed, sounding incredibly tired.

“I’m just trying to do what’s best for her.” Mrs. Pendle insisted. “I knew that studio was dangerous! I knew nothing good would come of it!” Wally watched her while Helen tried again to persuade her mother to leave the parlor. He could see that she did seem to love Allison. She’d convinced herself that she was doing the right thing. He’d known people like her before. She was worried about her daughter but wouldn’t listen to the criticism others gave her. He knew he probably couldn’t get through to her. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try. It was always worth trying in his opinion.

“Ma’am?” His voice was soft as he took a step toward her.

“What?” Mrs. Pendle tensed, ready to have to defend herself.

“I can tell you really love Allison, but I think you need to back off a little.” Wally fidgeted with his cap. Mrs. Pendle opened her mouth to protest, but Wally stopped her.

“Just hear me out, okay?” He put his hands up in a disarming gesture. “You probably love your kids a lot, but whatever you’re doing right now isn’t working. They’re not happy, are they?”

“I…suppose not.” Mrs. Pendle conceded. Her children weren’t happy. She could see that perfectly well. But it wasn’t her fault. Surely, it wasn’t her fault. She was just trying to help them.

“And, I mean, your kids are adults.” Wally continued. “Shouldn’t you be happy they’re out making their own decisions and stuff? You raised them well enough to be able to survive in the world. Isn’t that the point?”

“I…” Mrs. Pendle hesitated. Wally did have some rather good points.

“Let’s go back to the diner.” Helen put her hand on her mother’s arm again. “We need to talk. And this time, you need to listen.”

“…Alright.” Mrs. Pendle nodded. She’d just noticed Agnes behind the desk, receiver held to her ear and one finger hovering over the dial button. Mrs. Pendle decided she would prefer not to get arrested. So, she allowed herself to be led away by Helen. Chris stayed behind with Shawn and Wally. He was too tired for this.

.

“What’s your deal?” Mr. Pendle looked up from the cup of coffee he’d been nursing. Roy had sat down across from him, arms folded.

“Pardon?”

“What’s your deal?” Roy repeated.

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Mr. Pendle turned his attention back to his cup, swirling the contents around with a spoon.

“You have something going on, I can tell.” Loathe as Roy was to admit it, he recognized the tired resignation in the other man’s eyes. He didn’t want to believe his suspicions were true, but he had to ask. He had to know.

“This is a very stressful time.” Mr. Pendle said. “Of course I have something going on. My wife and my children are fighting.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Mr. Pendle continued to stir his coffee, refusing to meet Roy’s gaze. He knew what the younger man was getting at but he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of being right.

“You’re miserable,” Roy said.

“Why do you say that?” Mr. Pendle asked with a mild smile.

Roy’s eye twitched. “Well, for starters, Hye said you were miserable. And I trust her judgment.”

Mr. Pendle stiffened. He couldn’t argue with that. Hye had seen him at his lowest point. She knew the demons that lurked in his mind.

“Look, I don’t like you,” Roy said, his voice softening. “But I don’t like seeing people unhappy because of…something like this.” He gestured to himself and Mr. Pendle.

Mr. Pendle stared intently into the dark depths of his drink. He didn’t want to say it. He didn’t want to come clean. He’d spent so much time trying to fit in and be like everyone else. It was easier to just pretend, wasn’t it? It was dangerous to be different. He’d ensured his safety by burying that part of him so deep.

But…Hye was right. He **was** miserable. He didn’t know how much longer he could do this. He was starting to grow weary of carrying on in such a manner. While he did love his wife and children, hearing his wife rail so vehemently against people who were like him was slowly starting to wear down his will to live.

“I suppose…Hye has a point.” He finally said. “This…This probably will kill me.”

“So, what’s up with you?” Roy offered a small smile.

“I….I’m gay.” Mr. Pendle said.

“WHAT?!”

All eyes went to the front door of the diner, where Mrs. Pendle and Helen stood. Helen didn’t look all that surprised, but Mrs. Pendle was stunned.

“I think you all need to have a long talk,” Hye suggested. 


	15. Chapter 15

The conversation that followed…wasn’t easy. Mrs. Pendle was in tears, devastated by this new revelation. Mr. Pendle was distraught as well, but far more subdued. He was just so tired.

“Was I not good enough?” Mrs. Pendle sobbed.

“It wasn’t you.” Mr. Pendle replied, shaking his head. “I just…I tried to be happy the ‘right’ way, I did. I just never loved you the way you loved me.”

Mrs. Pendle started wailing again. It was hard to watch, hence why Helen and Roy had disappeared into the back. Hye had closed up the diner, shooing the other customers out to give the couple some privacy.

“I’m sorry, Barbara.” Mr. Pendle gently touched his wife’s hand. He’d never wanted to cause her this much pain, but he couldn’t do this anymore. He couldn’t keep pretending he was fine when he wasn’t. He couldn’t keep living like this.

“I need some time.” Mrs. Pendle sniffled loudly, stumbling to her feet. “I…We need to talk about this later.” She left as quickly as she could, still crying a bit.

Mr. Pendle sighed, running a hand through his hair. They would likely be getting a divorce, he expected. Some part of him felt like he’d failed at life. He’d done everything right, and yet he was going to get a divorce. No, no he was catastrophizing. And even if he did get a divorce, it wasn’t a failure. He’d done everything he could.

“I’m proud of you, Harold.” Hye nodded toward him.

“I don’t feel proud of myself.” He mumbled.

“So, it’s true?” Helen poked her head out of the back. “You are gay?”

“Yes.” Mr. Pendle sighed, clutching his coffee cup. He didn’t want to talk any more. He was too tired for this. Helen’s expression softened and she walked over to sit down beside him, putting an arm around him. Roy lingered a few feet away. He didn’t feel as though it was right of him to interrupt this moment.

“Why don’t you go talk to Allison?” Hye suggested quietly. “I’ll take care of them.”

“Thank you.” Roy gave her a small smile. “I’ll see you later.”

“Take care, dear.” Hye called after him as he left the diner. Roy headed for the tattoo parlor. He figured Chris and Allison would want to know about this new development. It would certainly take the attention off of Allison for a bit and allow them to deal with some other problems.

.

Ink Allison didn’t seem to be going anywhere, which did make things a little more complicated. It was strange to have two versions of Allison running around, especially since one of them was made of ink. And they couldn’t just be shoved back together because they’d become too different. But she was adjusting. She was trying to become her own person independent from both Allison and the person she’d been in the studio. Alice thought it was fun to have someone like a big sister or even a girlfriend. Alice wasn’t sure if they were going to become that, but she wanted that possibility to be open.

“Isn’t that weird?” Bendy asked. “She’s basically another you. Isn’t it just narcissistic?”

“That’s an awful big word.” Boris said.

“Oh hush!” Alice shoved Bendy. “Let me have my fun!”

Tom Boris remained beside Ink Allison, despite being able to be returned to Thomas, because Ink Allison needed him. He was her best friend. He’d kept her safe through all the trials and tribulations and she didn’t want to survive without him. He was the closest thing she had to a father figure, because Mr. Pendle was not _her_ father. Tom Boris was alright with this. He was content just to live. 

Squish wasn’t ever going to be anything but what he was. But he was happier now that he had Joey again. He had his daddy and he was happy.

Joey himself had…a lot to deal with. Esther was going to make him to go therapy. He needed therapy. And for once, he wasn’t going to fight it. He knew he needed it. He had a chance to be happy with Esther and her family and for once…he wasn’t going to ruin it.

.

There was still work left to be done, but things were getting better. Slowly but surely, things were getting better. Recovery was a process. It was never truly over. They were always going to be overcoming and encountering new problems. The story was never truly going to end. But they were going to be alright. Because they had each other.


End file.
